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HAVE  ME  EXCUSED; 


OB, 


A    PRACTICAL    EXPOSITION 


PARABLE 


GREAT    SUPPER. 


BY 


EZRA    D.    KINNEY,    A.M. 

PASTOR  OF  THE  cilURCH  IN  DARIENj  CONN. 


LUKE   XIV.   15-24. 
"A  certain  man  made  a  great  Supper,  and  bade  many." 


i  NEW- YORK  : 

M.    W.   DODD,     • 

BRICK  CHURCH  CHAPEL,  OPPOSITE  THE  CITY  HALL. 
1846. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1346, 

BY  EZRA   D.    KINNEY,  A.M. 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  State  of  Connecticut. 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE     -        -        -  ••  ',?**•*.•.      *        •-.       -        -  vii 
To  THE  READER        ....    .,..,.  ix 
I.     CHRIST  ALWAYS  DOING  GOOD  13 
II.     THOSE  WHO  RIGHTLY  IMPROVE  GOSPEL  PRI- 
VILEGES ARE  HAPPY     -        -        -  16- 

III.  THE  GOSPEL  SUPPER  is  GREAT               -  19 

IV.  WHAT  LED  CHRIST  TO  MAKE  THIS  GREAT 

SUPPER  ? 21 

V.     MANY  INVITED  TO  THIS  GREAT  SUPPER  25 
VI.     THE  SERVANT  WHO  CARRIES  THE  INVITATION  27 
VII.     THE  SUPPER  is  NOW  READY       '*  -         -  29 
VIII.     WHY  MEN  DO  NOT  COME  TO  THIS  SUPPER  31 
Sec.  1.  Total  Depravity  not  an  insurmountable  Ob- 
stacle         -        -        -  v  ' --/::  :V/-*''  ;'-   *'  31 
"     2.  God's  Purposes  no  insurmountable  Obstacle  33 
«     3.  Election  not  in  the  Way            ...  35 
"    4.  None  need  be  Excluded  by  Reprobation  37 
"    5.  Men  can  come  to  the  Great  Supper         -  38 
"     6.  Regeneration  does  not  debar  from  the  Sup- 
per        -        ...        -        -        -  41 
"     7.  Evil  men  and  Satan  cannot  keep  others  from 

the  Supper 42 

"    8.  Men  need  the  Provisions  of  the  Great  Sup- 
per        .......44 

"    9.  A  want  of  Room  keeps  none  Away       .     -  46 

'*  10.  No  want  of  Provisions       ....  47 


IV  CONTENTS. 

Sec.  It.  None  Stay  away  for  want  of  an  Invitation  49 

"  12.  All  would  be  Welcomed  to  the  Supper  -  50 
"  13.  Sinners  stay  away  from  the  Feast  for  want 

of  Appetite         -        ....  52 
"  14.  Sinners  are  unwilling  to  have  an  Appetite 

for  this  Supper      -        •    3^-   '     *       *-  54 
"  15.  Sinners  don't  like  the  Terms  of  Admission  56 
"  16.  Sinners  don't  like  God's  People      -        *  58 
"  17.  Sinners  don't  love  God      ....  61 
"  IS.   Sinners  think  they  can  do  without  the  Gos- 
pel Supper          ....    •    .f  62 
"  19.  Some  think  all  will  Enjoy  the  Supper  uncon- 
ditionally      -        >        -        -        -        -64 
"  20.  Some  delay  coming  because  they  Hope  the 

Supper  will  be  kept  waiting  for  Them  66 

IX.     SINNERS  EXCUSE    THEMSELVES   FOR   NOT 

COMING  TO  THE  GREAT  SUPPER  -  68 

Sec.  1.  A  new  Purchase  of  Land  lay  in  the  Way  69 
"  2.  Oxen  a  Hindrance  -----  71 
"  3.  A  wife  is  a  Hindrance  ...  74 

"  4.  I  don't  know  that  the  Bible  is  True  -  -  75 
"  5.  Universalism  a  Hindrance  to  Salvation  78 

"  6.  The  Moralist's  Religion  hinders  his  Salvation  89 
«•  7.  A  cavil  about  Original  Sin  made  a  Hindrance  99 
"  8.  Too  Young  to  be  a  good  Christian  -  101 

"  9.  Religion  would  make  me  less  Happy  -  108 
"  10.  The  Fear  of  Man  is  a  Snare  -  -  -  112 
"  11.  Inconsistent  Professors  are  a  Stumbling  Block  115 
"  12.  No  notion  of  being  Scared  into  Religion  -  120 
"  13.  How  came  Sin  into  the  World  ?  -  -  125 
"  14.  I  want  to  wait  for  others'  Halting  -  128 

"  15.  If  I  begin,  I  can't  finish     -        -        -        -     131 


CONTENTS.  V 

Sec.  16.  My  Business  and  Religion  would  not  Agree  135 
"  17.  Many  Cares  and  no  Time       -  139 
"  18.  Religion  would  ruin  my  Property  and  Repu- 
tation    -        -        -        -        -        -        -  144 

•'  19.  Prayers,  an  Abomination         ...  149 

"  20.  I'll  be  no  Hypocrite       ,  ^v r,  -        -        -  152 

"  21.  Not  enough  Convicted   ....  155 

"  22.  Religion  not  for  Me 160 

"  23.  The  thought  of  Repentance  Painful        -  163 

"  24.  Religion  don't  come  at  one's  beck      -        -  165 

"  25.  Waiting  God's  time          -        -     .    -        -  168 
"  26.  If  the  Thief  found  Mercy  at  last,  why  may 

not  I? 172 

"  27.  If  I  am  to  be  Saved,  I  shall  be  Saved      -  176 

"  28.  I  don't  Believe  in  Hurrying        -        -        -  181 

«  29.  The  Eleventh  Hour        -        -        •        •  185 

"  30.  I  have  a  Hope    ......  190 

"  31.  I  Mean  to  live  Differently       ...  194 

"  32.  I  have  a  Good  Mind  to  undertake  it    -        -  198 

"  33.  I  don't  like  to  Pledge  myself           -  ^      -  201 

"  34.  I  can't  do  any  thing  -        -        -        -        -  205 

"  35.  There  are  so  many  Denominations           •.  210 

«  36.  I  can't  get  Religion   -        -        -        -        -  212 

X.     THE  SERVANT  MAKES  HIS  REPORT  TO  THE 

MASTER       -        -*-        -        -        216 
XI.     THE  MASTER  is  ANGRY  AT  THE  EVIL  RE- 
PORT        219 

XII.     THE  MASTER  DETERMINES  TO  SUPPLY  HIS 

SUPPER  WITH  GUESTS         ...         222 

XIII.  THE  SERVANT  DOES  AS  COMMANDED         •    225 

XIV.  YET  THERE  is  ROOM  226 
XV.     THE  BLESSINGS  OF  THE  FEAST  TO  BE  URGED 

UPON  ALL        ......    228 


VI  CONTENTS. 

XVI.     THE  SEATS  MUST  ALL  BE  OCCUPIED          -  230 

XVII.     COMPEL  THEM  TO  COME  IN    -        -        -  231 
XVIII.     THE  MASTER  CAN  DO  WITHOUT  THOSE  WHO 

WILL  NOT  COME       -----  233 

CONCLUSION. 

1.  The  Kindness  and  Benevolence  of  God  -  235 

2.  The  Folly  of  Mankind 236 

3.  The  Ingratitude  of  Men  237 

4.  The  Distinguishing  Grace  of  God      -        -        -  238 

5.  God's  Justice  in  the  Doom  of  the  Ungodly      •  241 

6.  Sinners  will  have  Bitter  Reflections  in  Hell       •  242 


PREFACE. 


ALTHOUGH  the  author  has  been  in  the  habit,  for  many 
years^of  furnishing  matter  for  the  periodical  press,  yet  this 
is  his  first  effort  at  book  making.  And  he  does  not  make 
this  book  in  consequence  of  thinking  that  there  are  not 
many,  who  have  never  written  a  book,  that  are  far  better 
qualified  than  himself  for  such  a  task.  The  train  of  cir- 
cumstances which  have  led  to  this  undertaking,  is  the  fol- 
lowing :  While  the  author  was  engaged  in  school-keeping, 
in  a  mountain  town  of  Vermont,  during  vacation  in  col- 
lege, the  late  Rev.  Abraham  Baldwin,  who  was  then  la- 
bouring as  a  missionary  in  a  neighbouring  town,  preached 
a  lecture  one  evening  in  his  school-house  from  the  text, 
"  And  they  all,  with  one  consent,  began  to  make  excuse." 
That  lecture  may  be  called  the  germ  of  this  little  book. 
During  the  author's  ministry  of  twenty  years,  he  has  learn- 
ed from  personal  experience,  that  every  impenitent  person 
has  something  in  the  shape  of  an  excuse,  which  is  prevent- 
ing his  conversion.  He  has  been  led,  on  this  account,  to 
note  down,  and  refute,  very  many  of  these  excuses  in  his 
public  discourses.  It  has  been  the  author's  delightful  pri- 
vilege to  have  more  or  less  to  do  in  about  fifty  revivals,  in 
which  some  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  souls  have  profess- 
ed an  interest  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  has  found, 
that  the  Lord  has  often  seen  fit  to  make  many  of  the 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

thoughts  contained  in  this  book,  the  means  of  awakening 
the  unconverted,  and  of  leading  them  to  look  to  the  Lamb 
of  God  for  salvation.  It  was  this  consideration,  and  the 
hope  that  what  God  had  blessed  when  preached,  he  would 
also  bless  whea  read,  which  have  induced  him  to  think  of 
publishing. 

The  author  has  not  attempted  to  make  a  book  for  the 
fastidious,  or  the  learned  ;  but  for  "  the  wayfaring  man ;" 
the  simple-hearted,  and  the  child.  He  has  sought  to  clothe 
his  thoughts  in  a  plain,  every-day,  Anglo-Saxon  dress.  If 
he  can  make  the  unlearned  and  the  ignorant  understand  his 
meaning,  he  has  no  fears  but  others  will  understand  it  also. 

The  author  would  embrace  this  opportunity  to  express 
his  grateful  sense  of  obligation  to  those  personal  friends 
and  others,  who  have  been  so  kind  as  to  subscribe  for  his 
book,  before  he  sent  it  to  the  publisher.  While  some  of 
the  members  of  his  own  church,  and  some  who  profess  to 
have  been  converted  in  connection  with  his  unworthy  la- 
bours, have  said  to  himself  or  his  agent,  "  Have  me  ex- 
cused" you  have  stepped  forward  and  lent  him  a  helping 
hand,  without  which  his  book  would  never  have  seen  the 
light.  Whether  it  will  be  for  better,  or  for  worse,  that  you 
have  caused  it  to  be  printed  and  read,  the  judgment-day 
will  disclose.  The  author  would  take  his  farewell  by  ask- 
ing you  to  unite  your  prayers  with  his,  that  this  little  vol- 
ume may  be  made  the  means  of  salvation  to  many  souls. 

E.  D.  K. 

DARIEN,  Conn.,  Nov.  2,  1846. 


TO  THE  READER. 


ARE  you  a  professor  of  the  religion  of  Christ  ? 
This  book  will  give  you  many  hints,  and  present 
before  you  many  motives  in  regard  to  Christian 
duty.  If  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  your  eternal  pros- 
pects, here  you  will  find  truths  and  considerations, 
which  will  assist  you  in  understanding  your  true 
character.  If  you  are  desirous  of  rendering  your- 
self useful  in  your  intercourse  with  your  fellow 
men,  here  you  will  see  how  our  Divine  Master 
conducted  under  the  different  circumstances  of  life, 
when  he  was  setting  us  an  example  that  we  should 
follow.  Do  you  wish  to  be  instrumental  in  win- 


X  TO    THE    READER. 

ning  souls  to  Christ,  and  in  converting  sinners 
from  the  error  of  their  ways,  this  book  will  furnish 
you  with  reasons,  persuasions,  and  arguments,  with 
which  to  meet  the  difficulties,  and  objections,  and 
cavils,  and  excuses  of  different  classes  of  uncon- 
verted persons.  Seldom  will  you  meet  with  an 
impenitent  sinner,  whose  excuse  for  not  being  a 
Christian  is  not  here  shown  to  be  groundless,  and 
unwise,  and  unsafe.  Carry  this  book  with  you  for 
reference,  until  its  arguments  are  familiar.  God 
has  often  blessed  these  truths  to  the  conversion  of 
souls,  and  he  doubtless  will  bless  them  again. 
When  you  employ  them  to  remove  the  excuses  of 
the  ungodly,  always  do  it  with  fervent  prayer,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  would  use  the  truth,  as  the  fire  and 
the  hammer,  in  breaking  the  rock  in  pieces. 

Reader,  are  you  an  unconverted  person  ?  Are 
you  living  without  prayer,  and  without  satisfactory 
evidence,  that  you  have  been  born  of  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit, and  that  old  things  are  done  away,  and  that  all 


TO   THE    READER.  xi 

things  have  become  new  ?  This  book  was  written 
for  your  special  benefit.  It  has  been  the  writer's 
aim,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  to  promote  your 
welfare.  He  has  written  it  with  an  irrepressible 
anxiety,  that  you  might  spend  your  eternal  exist- 
ence among  the  happy  ones  who  surround  the 
throne  of  God,  and  the  Lamb,  in  the  upper  world. 
He  has  endeavoured  to  find  out  the  excuse,  which  is 
leading  you  to  expose  your  eternal  interests,  by  ne- 
glecting the  great,  the  glorious,  the  only  salvation 
for  lost  men.  Do,  I  pray  you,  read  this  book  with 
seriousness,  with  candour,  with  prayer.  If  you 
find  the  excuse,  which  you  have  harboured,  or  ex- 
pressed, for  not  being  a  Christian,  weigh  well  and 
thoughtfully  the  answer,  which  the  writer  has  given 
to  it.  I  would  not  advise  you  to  sit  down  and  read 
this  book  through,  at  once,  or  on  the  same  day  ; 
but  read  a  Chapter,  or  a  Section,  at  a  time,  and 
ponder  on  what  you  read.  Read  over  the  contents 
of  the  book,  and  if  you  see  one  subject,  more  than 


Xii  TO    THE    READER. 

another,  suited  to  your  case,  turn  to  that  and  give 
it  a  careful  consideration.  If  you  really  desire  to 
become  a  Christian,  you  cannot  fail  of  becoming 
one,  if  you  follow  the  advice,  given  in  different 
forms,  in  various  parts  of  this  book.  That  the 
reading  of  this  book,  may  result  in  your  salvation 
from  sin  and  hell,  and  in  promoting  your  happiness 
and  usefulness  in  your  day  and  generation,  is  the 
earnest  prayer  of  the  AUTHOR. 


THE   GREAT   SUPPER. 

CHAPTER  I. 

CHRIST    ALWAYS    DOING    GOOD. 

WHEN  our  blessed  Saviour  was  visibly  on 
earth,  he  "  went  about  doing  good"  He  lost 
no  time.  He  said  :  "  I  must  work  the  work  of 
Him  that  sent  me,  while  it  is  day,  for  the  night 
cometh  in  which  no  man  can  work."  We  find 
him  always  busy,  and  busy  too,  in  his  own  ap- 
propriate work.  His  mind  was  fixed  upon  one 
great  object,  and  he  never  lost  sight  of  it.  That 
object  was  the  glory  of  God  in  the  happiness  of 
mankind.  If  we  accompany  him  to  scenes  of 
affliction,  we  find  him  imparting  health  to  the 
sick ;  strength,  to  the  feeble  ;  soundness,  to  the 
maimed  ;  mental  vigour,  to  the  insane ;  life,  to 
the  dead  ;  and,  comfort,  to  the  sorrowful.  Be- 
hold him,  weary  and  thirsty,  at  Jacob's  well. 
"While  his  disciples  are  gone  to  buy  provisions 
2 


14  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

at  the  neighbouring  village,  we  find  the  Sa- 
viour, instead  of  refreshing  himself  with  gentle 
slumber  under  the  cooling  shade,  engaged  in  the 
most  interesting  conversation  with  a  dissolute 
woman,  who  came  to  draw  water.  He  sought, 
and  procured  her  conversion,  and,  through  her, 
the  conversion  of  many  of  her  townsmen.  If 
we  drop  in  at  the  house  of  Lazarus,  as  our 
Lord  stops  for  a  social  call,  we  find  his  conver- 
sation so  attractive  and  heavenly,  that  the  err- 
ing Mary  is  drawn  from  her  wonted  avocations 
to  sit  at  his  feet,  and  hear  his  words.  Or,  if  we 
take  a  short  journey  to  Emmaus,  Christ  will 
"  talk  with  us  by  the  way,  and  open  to  us  the 
Scriptures."  Or,  should  we  accompany  him  as 
he  calls  to  dine  with  one  of  the  chief  Pharisees, 
we  should  hear  him  pouring  forth  divine  truth 
to  the  different  classes  present,  with  an  elo- 
quence, which  burns  like  fire  on  the  consciences 
of  the  ungodly,  and  which  attracts  the  admir- 
ing gaze  of  the  whole  audience.  Wherever  he 
was,  whether  he  ate,  or  drank,  or  whatever  he 
did,  he  did  all  things  to  the  glory  of  God.  When 
he  was  partaking  of  his  daily  bread,  he  did  not 
seek  his  own  gratification  or  profit,  but  he  ever 
sought  the  profit  of  those  who  were  with  him. 
Even  on  such  occasions,  he  improved  the  time 


CHRIST    ALWAYS     DOING     GOOD.  15 

in  comforting  the  penitent,  in  rebuking  the  self- 
righteous  and  the  proud,  in  animating  the  de- 
jected, and  in  imparting  instruction  to  the 
whole  company. 

Christians  should  learn  from  Him,  whose 
name  they  bear,  to  employ  their  time,  their  tal- 
ents, their  opportunities,  particularly  their 
tongues,  in  promoting  the  edification,  and  the 
salvation  of  mankind.  Let  them  do  their  part 
in  introducing,  and  carrying  on,  profitable  con- 
versation. Let  them  ever  keep  in  mind  that 
they  are  Christ's  representatives  in  this  world, 
and  that  they  ought  to  do,  under  all  circum- 
stances, as  far  as  it  is  consistent  and  possible, 
and  proper  for  them  to  do,  whatever  they  have 
reason  to  think  the  Saviour  would  do,  if  he 
were  there  acting  for  himself. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THOSE  WHO   RIGHTLY  IMPROVE  GOSPEL  PRIVILEGES 
ARE    HAPPY. 

As  our  Divine  Master  was  charming  the  mul- 
titude who  were  listening  to  his  edifying  dis- 
course, one  of  his  hearers  said  unto  him, 
"  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the  king- 
dom of  God."  It  is  a  very  precious  privilege 
to  be  allowed  to  enter  the  visible  Church  as  a 
worthy  member.  Those,  who  have  evidence 
that  their  sins  have  been  forgiven,  deprive  them- 
selves of  much  true  happiness,  if  they  remain 
out  of  the  visible  kingdom  of  heaven — the 
Church.  God  says  to  such,  "  Come  ye  out  from 
among  them  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch  not 
the  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  receive  you,  and 
will  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my 
sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty." 
If  Christ  has  a  visible  Church  in  this  world,  who 
should  unite  with  it,  and  help  add  to  its  beauty 
and  prosperity,  if  not  those  whose  sins  he  has 
graciously  forgiven  ?  The  Church  was  institu- 


THE    OBEDIENT    ARE     HAPPY.  17 

ted  on  purpose  for  them.  It  is  to  them  he  says, 
"  Eat,  O  friends  ;  drink,  yea,  drink  abundantly, 
O  beloved."  After  our  Lord  had  instituted  his 
Supper,  he  said  to  all  who  love  him,  "Eat, 
drink,  this  is  my  body  broken,  this  is  rny  blood 
shed,  THIS  DO  in  remembrance  of  me"  It  is 
not  enough  that  we  reme?nber  Christ.  He 
commands  us  to  do  something  in  remembrance 
of  him,  to  DO  THIS.  Every  friend  of  Jesus 
should,  therefore,  feel  himself  obliged  to  unite 
with  the  visible  Church,  and  partake  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  remembrance  of  him.  Blessed 
is  he  that  is  a  worthy  partaker  of  the  sacraments 
of  the  Church — that  thus  eats  bread  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  He  finds  the  ordinances  of 
the  Gospel  to  be  food  for  his  spiritual  nature. 
Conscious  obedience  brings  peace  of  mind,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Cheerful  obedience  al- 
ways imparts  comfort.  Said  a  pious  physician, 
"  The  day  on  which  I  united  with  the  Church, 
and  received  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  was  the  happiest  day  of  my 
life."  Multitudes  can  testify  from  similar  ex- 
perience, that  he  who  eats  bread  in  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  happy — is  blessed.  If  this  lit- 
tle book  falls  into  the  hands  of  a  delaying  con- 
vert— of  one  who  has  tasted  that  the  Lord  is 
2* 


18  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

gracious,  but  has  not  offered  himself  to  become 
a  member  of  the  visible  Church — let  him  be  en- 
treated by  a  regard  to  his  own  happiness,  by  a 
regard  to  the  prosperity  of  Zion,  and  by  a  re- 
gard to  Christ's  command  and  God's  glory,  to 
delay  no  longer.  "  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat 
bread  in  the  kingdom  of  God."  TRY  IT. 


THE    GOSPEL   SUPPER   IS    GREAT. 

THEN  Christ  replied  to  the  man,  who  had 
said,  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  "  A  certain  man  made  a  great 
Supper,  and  bade  many."  This  certain  man 
who  made  the  Supper  is  none  other  than  CHRIST 
himself*  By  his  sufferings  and  death  he  has 
made  provisions  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
human  family. 

The  Supper  which  he  has  provided  is  a  great 
Supper.  It  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  necessities 
of  &  famishing  world.  Jews  and  Gentiles,  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  honoured  and  the  dis- 
honoured, the  learned  and  the  ignorant,  the 
free  and  the  bond,  the  white  and  the  black — 
all  men  of  every  nation,  of  every  complexion, 
of  every  variety  of  character — all,  all  may  find 
in  this  Supper  an  abundant  supply  for  all  their 
wants. 

Yes,  truly,  the  Supper  is  GREAT  ;  greater  than 
could  be  furnished  by  any  rich  man,  or  all  the 


xSU  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

rich  men  in  the  world  united ;  greater  than 
would  be  made  by  the  slaughter  of  all  the  flocks 
and  herds,  and  fowls  and  fish  of  the  earth,  the 
air,  and  the  waters  of  this  terrestrial  globe ; 
greater  than  could  be  procured  by  all  the  wis- 
dom and  wealth  and  power  of  all  created  be- 
ings in  the  universe.  Yes,  the  Gospel  Supper 
is  GREAT  ;  so  great,  that  none  but  GOD,  with 
all  the  resources  of  the  universe  at  command, 
could  bear  its  heavy  expenses,  or  furnish  its  in- 
finite entertainments  ;  so  great,  that  it  is  said 
to  have  impoverished  even  the  Son  of  God  him- 
self. Says  the  apostle  Paul,  "  For  ye  know 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor, 
that  ye,  through  his  poverty,  might  be  rich." 

Reader,  stop  and  admire  the  infinite  compas- 
sion and  love  of  God,  which  led  him  to  lay  out 
so  much  for  his  enemies  !  Will  you  not  give 
him  your  heart  ?  Will  you  not  hasten  to  par- 
take of  this  great  Supper  ? 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WHAT  LED   CHRIST  TO  MAKE    THIS  GREAT  SUPPER? 

WHAT  could  induce  the  Son  of  God  to  pro- 
vide such  a  Supper,  when  he  knew  that  it  must 
cost  his  heart's  blood  ?  Was  it  to  get  to  him- 
self a  name  ?  Men  are  willing,  sometimes,  to 
go  beyond  their  incomes,  and  even  to  go  to  the 
utmost  limit  of  their  property,  to  provide  enter* 
tainments,  or  to  relieve  the  poor  and  needy, 
that  they  may  thereby  gain  a  name.  But  this 
was'  not  the  motive  of  our  blessed  Saviour. 
When  he  was  about  coming  into  this  world  to 
provide  the  Gospel  Supper,  he  said  to  the  Father, 
'^Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God."  And 
whilst  he  was  upon  earth  he  testified  that  he 
sought  not  his  own  glory,  but  the  glory  of  the 
Father.  His  motive,  therefore,  was  not  a  name, 
although  by  furnishing  this  great  Supper,  "  he 
hath  received  of  the  Father  a  name,  which  is 
above  every  name."  That  name  is  JESUS. 
"  At  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall  bow, 


22  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

of  things  in  heaven,  of  things  in  earth,  and  of 
things  under  the  earth,  and  every  tongue  shall 
confess  that  HE  is  LORD,  to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father." 

What,  then,  did  lead  the  Son  of  God  to  make 
this  Supper  ?  Was  it  to  make  God  merciful  7 
God  has  always  been  "  merciful  and  gracious  ; 
slow  to  anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercies."  Was 
it  because  men  were  of  such  vast  importance 
in  God's  estimation,  that  the  loss  could  not  be 
made  up  to  the  universe,  if  they  were  suffered 
to  perish  without  an  effort  to  save  them  ?  No, 
God,  by  a  word,  could  have  annihilated  this 
world,  with  ail  its  guilty  inhabitants,  and  made 
a  larger  and  better  world  to  fill  its  place,  and  a 
better  race  of  intelligent  beings  to  inhabit  it. 
Did  Christ  procure  this  Supper  for  men,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  deserving  any  good  at  his 
hand  ?  They  deserved  evil,  and  only  evil,  from 
>Jie  Lord,  because  they  were  constantly  rebel- 
ling against  him.  Did  he  provide  this  feast  of 
fat  things,  because  God  could  not  be  just  in 
permitting  men  to  perish  in  their  sins,  without 
this  effort  to  save  them  ?  If  God  is  just  in 
dealing  with  fallen  angels  as  he  does,  then 
would  he  also  have  been  just,  had  he  left  our 


WHY    CHRIST    MADE    THE    SUPPER.        23 

guilty  race  under  the  penalty  of  his  law,  with- 
out making  any  provision  for  their  pardon. 

Why,  then,  was  this  Supper  made  ?  It  was, 
that  God  might  consistently  show  mercy  to 
those  of  mankind,  who  would  come  and  par- 
take of  this  royal  feast.  In  other  words,  it  was 
"  that  God  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of 
him  who  believeth  in  Jesus."  The  wonder 
among  intelligent  beings  was,  (not,  how  God 
can  be  just  and  damn  the  ungodly,  but)  how 
God  can  be  just  and  not  damn  rebellious  men. 
But  the  Gospel  provisions  have  solved  this  diffi- 
culty. The  universe  now  see  the  propriety  of 
God's  accepting  of  this  costly  Supper,  in  the 
place  of  the  deserved  sufferings  of  all  those, 
who  can  be  induced  to  come  and  partake  of  it. 
These  provisions  have  rendered  it  consistent 
with  God's  justice  to  pardon,  and  save,  all  those 
who  repent  and  believe  in  Christ.  "God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  might  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

Yes,  dear  reader,  Christ  died  to  remove  a  le- 
gal obstruction  to  our  salvation.  For  us,  he 
groaned  and  died.  Without  his  death,  we  all 
must  have  perished  for  ever.  If  Christ  had  not 


THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

^htyfj™^1*1^™'  6Ven  theA1- 
we,  then, 
for  him  ? 


s,  even  te      - 

ghty  God  could  not  consistently  save  us.  Can 
then  love  Christ  too  much,  or  do  too  much 


"  Love,  so  amazing,  so  divine, 
Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all.' 


CHAPTER  V. 

MANY   INVITED    TO    THIS    GREAT   SUPPER. 

OUR  Divine  Saviour  has  not  only  made  this 
costly  Supper,  but  he  has  also  bidden  many  of 
our  fallen  and  guilty  race  to  come  and  partake 
of  it.  And  how  many  has  he  bidden  ?  He 
has  bidden  "  all  those  who  labour,  and  are  hea- 
vy laden."  He  has  invited  all  who  hunger  and 
thirst.  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come." 
"  Let  him  that  is  a  thirst,  come."  "  Ho,  every 
one  that  thirsteth  ;  come  ye  to  the  waters  ;  and 
he  that  hath  no  money :  Come  ye,  buy  and 
eat ;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without 
money,  and  without  price.  Wherefore  do  ye 
spend  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread  ?  and 
your  labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not? 
hearken  diligently  unto  me,  and  eat  ye  that 
which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul  delight  itself  in 
fatness."  Yes,  Christ  has  bidden  many.  He 
says :  "  Look  unto  me,  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  and  be  ye  saved."  He  has  bidden  you 
3 


26  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

and  me,  my  dear  reader,  to  come  and  eat  of 
this  great  and  costly  Supper.  He  is  now  say- 
ing to  us  :  "  Unto  you,  O  men,  I  call,  and  my 
voice  is  to  the  sons  of  man :  hear  instruction, 
and  be  wise.  Blessed  is  the  man  that  heareth 
me,  watching  daily  at  my  gates.  For  whoso 
findeth  me,  findeth  life,  and  shall  obtain  favour 
of  the  Lord.  But  he  that  sinneth  against  me, 
wrongeth  his  own  soul."  If  Christ  has  kindly 
invited  you  to  this  heavenly  feast,  will  you  not 
now  accept  his  invitation  ? 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   SERVANT    WHO    CARRIES   THE   INVITATION. 

THE  one  who  made  this  Supper,  sent  his  ser- 
vant at  supper  time  to  invite  the  guests.  Our 
blessed  Saviour,  when  here  on  earth,  sent  out 
his  disciples  to  all  the  cities  and  villages, 
whither  he  himself  would  come.  And  when 
he  was  about  leaving  this  world,  he  said  to  his 
Apostles :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  "It 
pleases  the  Lord,  by  the  foolishness  of  preach- 
ing, to  save  them  that  believe."  The  Gospel 
minister,  is  the  servant,  whom  Christ  has  sent 
out  to  invite  men  to  this  great  Supper.  Every 
Gospel  sermon,  is  an  invitation  to  sinners  to 
come  and  share  the  blessings  of  divine  grace. 

The  minister,  (a  word  which  means  servant,) 
preaches  the  word  publicly,  and  from  house  to 
house.  He  warns,  reproves,  and  entreats  his 
fellow  men  to  come  to  Christ  for  salvation.  He, 
in  effect,  says  to  them  : 


350  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

"  Eternal  Wisdom  hath  prepared 

A  soul-reviving  feast, 
And  bids  your  longing  appetites 

The  rich  provision  taste." 

But  not  only  is  the  minister  authorized  to 
invite  men  to  this  Supper,  but,  "  let  him  also 
that  heareth,  say,  Come."  Every  Christian  is 
authorized,  and  commanded,  to  use  his  influ- 
ence to  bring  men  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 
Christ  says  to  them  all :  "  Go,  work  to-day,  in 
my  vineyard."  The  pious  parent  and  child, 
brother  and  sister,  husband  and  wife,  teacher 
and  scholar,  Bible  agent  and  Tract  agent,  every 
one,  who  has  freely  received  the  grace  of  God, 
is  commanded  to  impart  it  freely  to  others. 
You,  my  reader,  should  not  only  come  to  this 
Supper  yourself,  but  should  affectionately  invite 
all  around  you  to  come  likewise.  Have  you 
heard  the  Gospel  ?  then  say  to  others,  Come.  If 
you  are  Christ's  servant,  then  do  the  work  of 
his  servant.  He  expects  every  Christian  to  do 
his  duty.  Will  YOU  try  to  win  some  soul  to 
Christ  ? 


CHAPTER  YIL 

THE  SUPPER  IS  NOW  READY. 

THE  servant  was  sent  to  the  multitudes  who 
were  bidden,  to  remind  them  that  it  was  supper 
time,  and  to  assure  them  that  all  things  were 
ready,  and  to  urge  them  at  once  to  come.  Thus, 
ministers  and  Christians,  are  to  inform  their 
dying  fellow-men,  that  the  way  of  salvation  is 
now  open  ;  that  all  things  are  now  ready,  on 
God's  part ;  that  the  great  Supper,  which  repre- 
sents the  abundant  provisions  of  the  Gospel,  is 
now  ready.  And  they  are  kindly,  and  sincere- 
ly, and  affectionately  to  invite  them  to  come, 
because  all  things  are  now  ready.  The  ser- 
vants of  Christ,  do  this  publicly  and  privately, 
early  and  late,  night  and  day.  They  urge  men 
to  come  in  the  name  of  the  Great  Master,  who 
has  provided  the  Supper.  They  assure  them 
that  "  the  oxen  and  the  fatlings  are  killed,  and 
that  all  things  are  now  ready?  They  tell 
them,  that  God  the  Father  is  ready  to  pardon 
the  sins  of  all  who  come  to  this  Supper ;  that 
3* 


30  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

God  the  Son,  is  ready  to  receive  as  his  friends 
and  followers,  all  who  are  induced  to  come ; 
and,  that  God  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  ready  to  renew 
the  hearts,  and  sanctify  and  comfort  the  souls 
of  all  who  come  ;  and  that  saints  and  angels, 
are  ready  to  rejoice,  when  they  see  sinners  com- 
ing to  this  Supper. 

My  unconverted  reader,  do  you  realize  that 
there  is  now,  nothing  in  the  way  of  your  salva- 
tion, but  yourself  ?  This  Gospel  Supper  is  rea- 
dy for  you,  as  well  as  for  others.  It  is  the  only 
provision  that  will  ever  be  made  for  your  salva- 
tion. God  asks  :  "  What  more  could  have  been 
done  to  my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in 
it  ?  "  You  need  not  expect  him  to  do  more  for 
you.  Will  you  not,  then,  "  work  out  your  sal- 
vation with  fear  and  trembling  ?  for  it  is  God 
who  worketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do,  of  his 
good  pleasure." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WHY   MEN   DO   NOT    COME   TO   THIS    SUPPER. 

IF  all  things  are  now  ready,  and  all  Gospel 
sinners  are  invited  to  this  great  Supper,  why 
do  they  not  come  ? 

It  is  not  because  there  is  any  insurmountable 
obstacle  in  their  way. 


SECTION  I. 
Total  depravity  not  an  insurmountable  obstacle. 

SOME  have  thought,  that  total  depravity  is 
an  insurmountable  obstacle,  in  the  way  of  sin- 
ners coming  to  this  Supper.  Men  are  subjects 
of  this  kind  of  depravity,  Avho  are  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins.  And  this  is  the  character  of 
all  unconverted  men.  But  this  depravity,  as 
great  and  dreadful  as  it  is,  does  not  destroy  the 
power  of  doing  right.  Men,  who  are  thus  de- 
praved, are  as  really  free  moral  agents,  as  Chris- 


32  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

tians  are.  God  speaks  to  them,  and  of  them, 
as  though  he  considered  them  as  capable  of 
choosing  the  good,  and  refusing  the  evil,  as  holy 
beings  are.  He  says  to  them  :  "  Wash  you  ; 
make  you  clean ;  put  away  the  evil  of  your 
doings  from  before  mine  eyes  ;  cease  to  do  evil ; 
learn  to  do  well."  And  again  :  "  Cast  away 
from  you  all  your  transgressions,  whereby  ye 
have  transgressed  ;  and  make  you  a  new  heart, 
and  a  new  spirit ;  for  why  will  ye  die  ?"  And 
again :  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye 
die?" 

God  says  of  sinners :  "  Oh,  that  they  were 
wise ;  that  they  understood  this ;  that  they 
would  consider  their  latter  end."  Now,  if  God 
is  honest  in  these  and  similar  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, (and  who  dares  question  hig  honesty  ?) 
then,  it  seems  evident  that  he  considers  men  as 
naturally  able  to  obey  his  voice,  and  come  to 
the  Gospel  Supper  ;  as  able  to  "  break  off  their 
sins  by  righteousness,  and  their  iniquities  by 
turning  unto  him."  And  it  is  further  evident, 
that  men,  while  under  the  power  of  total  de- 
pravity, lack  no  essential  ability  to  repent  and 
believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  from  the  fact 
that  when  they  see  their  sins,  they  always  feel 
guilty  for  having  committed  them,  and  guilty 


for  not  being  Christians.  They  would  not  feel 
condemned  and  guilty,  if  they  believed  that  they 
had  no  power  to  do  otherwise  than  they  have 
done,  and  are  doing. 

No,  my  impenitent  reader,  you  will  find  that, 
as  soon  as  you  are  disposed  to  forsake  your  sins, 
and  love  and  obey  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  your 
depravity  presents  no  insurmountable  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  your  coming  to  the  Gospel  Supper. 


SECTION  II. 
GocFs  purposes  no  insurmountable  obstacle. 

SOME  suppose,  that  God's  purposes  prevent 
sinners  embracing  the  Saviour.  That  God  has 
purposes,  or  decrees,  by  which  he  regulates  his 
own  conduct,  the  Bible  makes  it  perfectly  man- 
ifest. We  find  in  the  Scriptures,  expressions 
like  the  following :  "  Who  are  the  called,  ac- 
cording to  his  purpose?"  "According  to  the 
purpose  of  Him  who  worketh  all  things  after 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will."  "  This  is  the 
decree  of  the  Most  High,  which  is  come  upon 
my  lord,  the  king."  Now,  while  it  is  clear  that 
God  has  decrees,  or  purposes,  according  to  which 


34  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

he  works  all  things,  there  is  not  a  particle  of 
evidence  that  his  purposes  or  decrees  have  ever 
prevented,  or  will  ever  prevent  one  person  from 
coming  to  the  Gospel  Supper.  If  the  Bible  does 
teach  that  God  has  decrees,  it  also  as  plainly 
teaches  that  men  are  free  and  accountable 
agents,  possessed  of  all  the  ability  necessary  to 
bring  them  to  Christ  and  to  heaven  ;  and  that 
all  will  be  saved,  who  are  disposed  to  obey  God. 
The  decrees  of  God,  will  never  shut  one  out  of 
heaven,  who  repents  and  believes  the  Gospel. 
Neither  will  the  Divine  purpose  (unless  it  be  by 
perversion),  ever  prevent  any  one  from  repent- 
ing and  believing.  Those,  therefore,  who  make 
God's  decrees  the  occasion  of  their  cavilling, 
and  delaying,  and  refusing  to  partake  of  this 
great  Supper,  will  be  found  among  the  "  un- 
learned and  unstable,"  spoken  of  by  the  Apos- 
tle Peter,  who  "  wrest  the  Scriptures  to  their 
own  destruction."  The  decree  of  God  does  not 
prevent  their  salvation,  but  they  make  the  doc- 
trine of  the  divine  decrees  the  occasion  of  their 
own  damnation.  If  men  would  be  wise,  they 
would  not  be  meddling  with  "secret  things, 
which  belong  to  God  ;"  but,  would  act  in  reli- 
gious matters,  with  as  much  judgment  and  rea- 
son, as  they  do  in  worldly  things.  The  farmer 


ELECTION    NOT    IN   THE    WAY.  35 

does  not  stop  to  puzzle  himself,  or  others,  with 
the  inquiry,  whether  it  is  decreed  that  he  shall 
have  a  crop,  but  goes  forward  in  preparing  his 
ground,  and  sowing  his  seed  ;  and  if  he  has  a 
crop,  well ;  and  if  not,  he  has  the  satisfaction  of 
thinking,  that  he  has  done  his  part.  If  men 
will  be  as  wise  in  spiritual  things  ;  that  is,  if 
they  will  do  their  part — do  their  duty — no  de- 
cree of  God  would  shut  them  out  of  heaven,  or 
prevent  their  coming  to  the  Gospel  Supper, 
dear  reader,  will  you  try  it  ?  jd%&&-  ' 

ff  TB£ 

— UNIVERSITY 

SECTION  III. 
Election  not  in  the  way. 

MANY  have  argued  that  the  doctrine  of  Elec- 
tion stands  in  the  way  of  some  sinners,  to  pre- 
vent their  coming  to  this  Supper.  Though 
the  Bible  assures  us  "  that  the  purpose  of  God 
according  to  election  shall  stand";  and  that 
"  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life,  in 
Antioch,  believed ;"  and  that  Christ's  people  are 
"  elect  according  to  the  fore-knowledge  of  God 
the  Father ;"  yet  it  nowhere  intimates  that 
election  prevents  any  of  our  race  from  becoming1 


36  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

Christians.  Whom  does  election  shut  out  from 
the  privileges  of  Christ's  kingdom?  Not  the 
elect,  surely.  Whom  then?  The  non-elect? 
By  no  means.  Election  simply  makes  it  cer- 
tain that  the  Great  Master  of  the  feast  shall 
have  a  good  number  of  guests  to  partake  of  his 
Supper.  It  makes  it  certain  that  some  will 
come,  but  it  hinders  no  one.  The  Supper  is 
large  enough  for  all.  All  are  alike  sincerely 
invited.  All  have  the  necessary  natural  abili- 
ties to  accept  the  invitation.  And  all  are,  by 
nature,  unwilling  to  come.  Election  secures 
the  attendance  of  some.  It  makes  it  certain 
that  "  Christ's  people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day 
of  his  power."  Now,  the  certainty,  that  "  all 
that  the  Father  has  given  to  Christ,  shall  come 
to  him,"  need  not  prevent  others  coming.  If 
the  way  is  open  for  all,  and  the  invitation  given 
to  all,  and  all  possess  the  ability  to  accept  the 
invitation,  then  surely  the  fact  of  God's  leading 
some  to  accept  the  invitation,  can  have  no  re- 
pelling influence  on  others.  Christ  says,  Who- 
soever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely. 
If  therefore  all  do  not  come  to  this  great  Sup- 
per, it  is  not  the  fault  of  election.  The  reason 
all  do  not  come,  is  not  that  they  were  of  the 
non-elect.  My  reader,  instead  of  troubling 


REPROBATION  NEED  PREVENT  NO  ONE.   37 

yourself  about  the  question,  Am  I  one  of  the 
elect?  "rather  give  diligence  to  make  your 
calling  and  your  election  sure" 


SECTION  IV, 
None  need  be  excluded  by  reprobation. 

IT  has  been  supposed  that,  if  election  does 
not  shut  some  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
reprobation  does.  Perhaps  it  does.  But  if  it 
does,  who  is  to  blame  ?  Let  us  see  who  are 
reprobates.,  and  why  they  are  reprobated,  and 
then  we  shall  see  who  is  to  blame.  In  Jere- 
miah vi.  30,  we  read,  "  Reprobate  silver  shall 
men  call  them,  because  the  Lord  has  rejected 
them."  But  why  are  they  reprobates,  and  why 
has  the  Lord  rejected  them  ?  The  28th  verse 
informs  us  :  "  They  are  all  grievous  revolters, 
walking  with  slanders  :  they  are  corrupters." 
They  were,  then,  rejected  and  reprobated  be- 
cause of  their  own  grievous  wickedness.  And 
this  is  doubtless  the  case  with  all  reprobates. 
In  2  Tim.  iii.  8,  we  read,  "  Men  of  corrupt 
minds,  reprobate  concerning  the  faith  ;"  and  in 
Titus  i.  16,  "They  profess  that  they  know 
God  ;  but  in  works  they  deny  him,  being  aborn- 
4 


38  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

inable,  and  disobedient,  and  unto  every  good 
work  reprobate"  These  texts  give  us  a  fair 
view  of  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  reprobation. 
And  we  see  that.  God  is  not  to  blame  for  men's 
being  reprobates.  No  man,  who  does  his  duty 
— who  does  as  well  as  he  can — will  ever  be  re- 
probated. If  men  are  reprobates,  it  is  because 
they  are  abominable,  and  disobedient,  and  hypo- 
critical. They  are  the  guilty  causes  of  their 
own  reprobation. 

My  dear  reader,  you  need  have  no  fears  of 
reprobation,  if  you  will  forsake  "  all  ungodliness 
and  worldly  lusts,  and  live  soberly  and  right- 
eously and  godly  in  the  world." 


SECTION  V. 
Men  CAN  come  to  the  Great  Supper. 

SOME  have  supposed  that  men  have  by 
nature,  no  ability  to  come  to  the  Gospel  Supper, 
and  that  their  inability  is  an  insurmountable 
obstacle  in  their  way.  But  it  is  manifest  from 
the  whole  account  of  this  Supper,  and  from  the 
manner  in  which  those  were  treated  who  did 
not  accept  the  invitation,  (see  verse  24th,)  that 


NATURAL  INABILITY  DONJT  PREVENT.      39 

all  the  inability  under  which  any  of  those,  who 
were  bidden,  laboured,  was  the  inability  spoken 
of  by  one  of  them  in  the  20th  verse.  He  said, 
"I  have  married  a  wife,  and,  therefore,  /  can- 
not come."  This  was  the  only  one  of  all  those, 
that  were  invited,  who  pretended  to  be  kept 
back  by  inability.  And  who  will  believe  that 
his  inability  would  have  been  an  insurmounta- 
ble obstacle  in  the  way  of  his  coming,  if  he  had 
only  been  strongly  disposed  to  come,  and  had 
made  his  calculations  accordingly  ?  And  yet, 
the  inability  of  this  man  is  the  only  inability 
spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  which  prevents  sinners 
from  enjoying  the  rich  and  sumptuous  provi- 
sions of  the  Gospel.  Our  blessed  Saviour  ex- 
pressed this  inability  in  somewhat  different  lan- 
guage. Instead  of  saying  ye  cannot,  like  the 
man  who  had  married  a  wife,  He  said,  "  Ye 
will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life." 
The  sinner  manifests  his  disinclination  to  reli- 
gion, and  to  coming  to  the  Gospel  Supper,  by 
saying,  "  I  cannot,"  or  "  I  can't"  just  as  the  un- 
dutiful  child  expresses  his  disinclination  to  doing 
what  he  does  not  want  to  do.  But  Christ  calls 
things  by  their  right  names.  He  intimates 
that  it  is  not  so  much  a  can  not  as  a  will  not, 
that  keeps  sinners  from  coming  to  him  for  sal- 


40  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

vation.  This  inability,  whether  we  call  it  can 
not,  or  will  not,  is  no  obstacle  in  the  sinner's 
way,  when  he  really  desires  and  determines  to 
come  to  this  great  Supper.  If  men  were  desti- 
tute of  the  power  of  choice,  and  of  the  attributes 
of  free  agency,  (which  is  not  the  case,)  then 
they  could  not  come  to  the  Gospel  Supper, 
though  ever  so  urgently  invited  ;  and  then  too 
the  Lord  Jesus  wrould  be  unreasonable  for  in- 
viting them,  and  for  being  angry  with  them  for 
not  coming,  and  for  declaring  that  "  none  of 
those  men  which  were  bidden,  should  taste  of 
his  Supper."  We  must,  therefore,  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  sinners  labour  under  no  inabil- 
ity which  need  prevent  their  coming  to  Christ 
at  once,  or  which  will  excuse  them,  for  a  mo- 
ment, for  not  being  Christians. 

Do  you  say,  my  reader,  that  you  want  to  be 
a  Christian,  and  have  tried  to  come  to  Christ 
but  could  not  find  him  ?  You  have  made  a 
mistake  somewhere  in  your  efforts  for  religion. 
God  says,  "  Ye  shall  seek  me,  and  find  me, 
when  ye  search  for  me,  WITH  ALL  YOUR 
HEART."  Instead  of  seeking  the  Lord,  you 
have  been  seeking  your  own  happiness  and 
comfort.  Or,  if  you  have  sought  the  Lord,  you 
have  not  done  it  with  all  your  heart. 


REGENERATION    DON?T    HINDER.  41 

i 

SECTION  VI. 

Regeneration  does  not  debar  from  the  Supper. 

IT  is  thought  by  some  that  the  doctrine  of 
regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  lies  in  the  way 
of  sinners  coming  to  this  Gospel  Feast.  Re- 
generation is  the  term  which  expresses  the  work 
that  God  performs  on  the  heart  of  man,  when 
he  becomes  a  new  creature.  In  becoming  new 
creatures,  men  "  work  out  their  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling,  while  God  works  in 
them  to  will  and  to  do,  of  his  good  pleasure." 
In  becoming  pious,  it  is  enough  for  men  to  do 
their  own  work.  They  are  not  required  to  do 
God^s  work.  He  is  always  ready  to  do  that 
himself.  "As  many  as  receive  Christ,  to  them 
he  gives  power,  (or  right,  or  privilege,)  to  be- 
come the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe 
on  his  name  :  which  are  born,  not  of  blood,  nor 
of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man, 
but  of  God."  When  people  thus  receive  Christ, 
by  believing  on  his  name,  they  are  regenerated, 
they  are  new  creatures.  They  now  love  and 
obey  God.  They  now  trust  in  Christ  alone  for 
salvation.  They  now  hate  sin,  and  forsake  the 
ways  of  sin.  They  now  cheerfully  accept  the: 
4* 


42  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

invitation,  and  come  to  the  great  Supper.  Let 
sinners,  then,  repent  that  they  have  sinned 
against  the  Holy  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  and 
let  them  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with 
all  their  heart ;  let  them  thus  do  what  they  are 
required  to  do,  and  what  they  ought  to  do,  and 
they  will  not  find  the  doctrine  of  regeneration 
hindering  them,  in  the  least,  from  coming  to 
the  great  Supper.  Try  it,  my  dear  reader, 
try  it. 


SECTION  VII. 

Evil  men  and  Satan  cannot  keep  others  from  the 
Supper. 

IT  may  be  thought  that  wicked  men,  and  the 
great  adversary,  can  prevent  sinners  coming  to 
the  Gospel  Feast.  If  they  could  prevent  men 
from  becoming  pious,  none  would  ever  become 
such.  The  devil  is  constantly  walking  about, 
seeking  whom  he  may  devour.  If  he  had  ma- 
lignity enough  to  seduce  and  ruin  our  first 
parents,  we  may  know  that  he  will  do  his  ut- 
most to  ruin  all  their  posterity.  He  does  wha.t 
he  can  to  make  men  satisfied  with'their  present 


EVIL  MEN  AND  SATAN  CAN*T  HINDER.     43 

state  and  character.  He  persuades  them  that 
their  morality  is  religion  enough :  that  they  can 
do  without  the  Gospel  Supper ;  that  they  are 
"  rich  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have  need  of 
nothing."  He  sows  "  tares  among  the  wheat," 
and  "  catches  away  the  good  seed  of  the  word," 
which  has  been  sowrn  on  the  ears  of  mankind. 
"We  are  not  ignorant  of  his  devices."  But 
though  Satan's  influence  is  great,  it  is  not  irre- 
sistible. "  Resist  the  devil,"  said  the  Apostle, 
"  and  he  will  flee  from  you."  He  can  only 
tempt.  He  cannot /ora?.  A  disposition  to  obey 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  a  firm  determination 
to  live  a  life  of  prayer,  can  break  through  all 
the  obstacles,  which  wicked  men  and  devils  are 
capable  of  interposing  between  the  sinner  and 
salvation. 

Wicked  beings  may  persecute,  and  threaten 
those  who  desire  salvation,  and  may  imprison 
the  body,  and  put  it  upon  the  rack,  and  burn 
it ;  but  when  they  have  killed  the  body,  they 
have  gone  to  the  limit  of  their  power.  The 
soul  can  serve  God  and  enjoy  his  smiles,  not- 
withstanding all  the  opposition  of  earth  and 
hell. 

If  these  seven  obstacles,  which  have  been  ex- 
amined in  the  foregoing  sections  of  this  chapter, 


44  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

may  be  overcome,  and  the  sinner,  notwithstand- 
ing them,  enjoy  the  Gospel  Supper,  we  may 
safely  conclude  that  there  are  no  insurmounta- 
ble obstacles  in  his  way.  Now,  if  there  are  no 
such  obstacles  in  the  way  of  sinners  to  prevent 
their  coming  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  Gospel 
blessings,  why  do  they  not  all  come  ? 


SECTION  VIII. 
Men  need  the  provisions  of  the  Great  Supper. 

THE  reason  all  men  do  not  accept  the  invi- 
tation to  the  Supper,  is  not  because  they  do  not 
stand  in  need  of  these  provisions.  Men  are 
fallen,  depraved,  and  ruined  creatures.  Every 
part  of  in  an,  soul  and  body,  shows  signs  of  de- 
generacy. All  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of 
the  glory  of  God.  In  consequence  of  sin,  man 
cannot,  by  any  of  his  doings,  regain  the  inno- 
cence of  our  race  before  the  fall.  The  law 
looks  upon  him  as  a  transgressor,  and  pro- 
nounces him  accursed.  He  must  perish,  for  all 
that  he  can  do  to  satisfy  the  law.  He  is  repre- 
sented in  the  Bible  as  being  utterly  unable  to 
save  himself  from  the  curse  of  the  law — as 


MEN    NEED    THE    SUPPER.  45 

unable  to  do  it,  as  the  new-born  infant  is  to 
live  and  thrive,  when  it  has  been  cast  out  into 
the  open  field,  and  abandoned  to  its  destiny. 
Men  are  represented  as  poor,  and  wretched,  and 
miserable,  and  blind,  and  naked,  and  entirely 
under  the  power  of  a  loathsome  disease.  "  The 
whole  head  is  sick,  and  the  whole  heart  is  faint : 
from  the  sole  of  the  foot,  even  unto  the  head, 
there  is  no  soundness  ;  but  wounds,  and  bruises, 
and  putrifying  sores."  The  Son  of  God  saw 
the  poverty,  and  misery,  and  utter  helplessness 
of  mankind.  He  saw  their  inability  to  provide 
for,  or  to  take  care  of  themselves.  It  was  then 
that  his  eye  pitied  them,  and  his  arm  brought 
salvation.  He  said  unto  them  :  "  Live,  yea, 
he  said  unto  them,  LIVE,  for  I  have  found  a 
ransom"  If  men  do  not  share  in  the  blessings 
of  this  great  Supper,  they  must  inevitably  pe- 
rish. They  are  in  pressing  need  of  its  provi- 
sions. They  are  absolutely  and  entirely  de- 
pendent on  charity — on  the  unmerited  bounty 
of  Christ.  The  reason,  therefore,  that  they  do 
not  all  come,  and  partake  of  the  rich  provisions 
of  the  Gospel  Feast,  is  not,  that  they  are  not  in 
needy  circumstances  ;  for  they  owe  ten  thou- 
sand talents,  and  have  nothing  to  pay. 

O,  my  impenitent  reader,  do  realize  that  you 


46  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

are  sick,  and  need  Christ  for  your  Physician  ; 
that  you  are  poor,  and  need  the  merits  of  Christ 
to  make  you  rich  ;  that  you  are  blind,  and  need 
the  eye-salve  of  the  Gospel  to  give  you  sight ; 
that  you  are  wretched,  and  need  the  pardoning 
mercy  of  God  to  make  you  happy ;  that  you 
are  starving,  and  need  the  provisions  of  the 
great  Supper  to  supply  your  wants.  To  feel 
your  necessities,  is  the  first  step  towards  hav- 
ing them  supplied.  Contemplate  your  state, 
realize  your  condition,  and  hasten  to  Christ  for 
the  mercy  you  need. 


SECTION  IX. 
A  want  of  room  keeps  none  away. 

THE  reason  sinners  do  not  all  come  to  the 
great  Supper,  is  not  a  want  of  room  at  the  ta- 
ble. It  would  be  doing  injustice  to  the  Maker 
of  the  feast,  to  suppose  that  he  invites  more 
guests  than  he  is  prepared  to  accommodate.  It 
would  manifest  an  insincerity  in  the  invitation, 
which  would  be  exceedingly  derogatory  to  his 
character.  What  is  the  fact  in  the  case,  as 
stated  in  the  account  ?  Why,  after  the  servant 


NO    WANT    OF    PROVISIONS.  47 

had  brought  in  all  that  he  could  induce  to  come, 
from  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  he  in- 
formed his  Master  that  there  was  yet  room.  So 
in  the  Gospel ;  though  multitudes  have  been 
brought  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  yet  there 
is  room.  There  is  room  enough  at  this  great 
Supper,  for  every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam. 
None  has  been  constrained  to  go  away,  after 
coming,  for  want  of  room.  None  will  ever  be 
turned  away  on  that  account.  Christ  has  given 
assurance  that  all  who  come  to  his  feast  shall 
find  a  place.  This  is  his  language :  "  Him 
that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out" 
My  reader,  have  you  tried  to  find  a  seat  at  the 
Gospel  Supper  ?  Have  you  been  to  Christ,  and 
asked  him  to  give  you  a  place  at  his  table? 
Do  not  conclude  that  there  is  not  room  enough 
for  you,  without  first  making  a  thorough  trial. 
Come  and  see. 


SECTION  X. 
No  want  of  provisions. 

SOME  might  fear,  from  the  consideration  that 
so  many  are  invited,  that  the  provisions  will  not 
hold  out,  and  they  may  hesitate  about  coming* 


48  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

on  that  account.  As  God,  in  his  providence, 
has  furnished  a  sufficiency  of  food  for  all  men, 
(though  some  may  starve  themselves  to  death,) 
so,  in  his  grace,  He  has  made  ample  provisions 
for  the  spiritual  wants  of  all  mankind — has 
given  his  Son  to  taste  death  for  every  man,  to 
be  "  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world"  How  can  Christ  be  called  "  the  Sa- 
viour of  all  men"  if  he  has  not  rendered  sal- 
vation possible  for  all  men  ?  How  can  He  be 
the  Lamb  of  God.  which  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world,  if  he  has  not  made  an  atonement 
sufficient,  in  its  provisions,  for  the  whole  human 
race  ?  Where  the  Apostle  says  :  "  If  Christ 
died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead  ;"  does  he  not 
more  than  intimate,  that  Christ  has  made  an 
atonement  for  all  tvho  are  dead  in  sin,  that  is, 
for  all  men  ? 

There  is  no  deficiency  in  the  provisions  of  the 
Gospel.  The  prodigal  utters  the  truth,  "  In  my 
Father's  house  is  bread  enough  and  to  spare. 
Why  then  do  any  stay  away,  and  perish  for 
want  of  provisions. 

"  The  happy  gates  of  Gospel  grace 
Stand  open  night  and  day ; 
Lord,  we  are  come  to  seek  supplies, 
And  drive  our  wants  away." 


NO   WANT    OP    INVITATIONS.  49 

SECTION  XI. 
None  stay  aivay  for  want  of  an  invitation. 

IN  most  communities,  men  wait  for  an  invi- 
tation, before  they  feel  themselves  authorized  to 
go,  and  take  supper  with  others.  Those  who 
stay  away  from  the  great  Gospel  Supper,  can- 
not plead  the  want  of  an  invitation.  By  turn- 
ing back  to  Chapter  V.  of  this  little  book,  you 
will  see  that  all  men,  who  live  in  Gospel  lands, 
are  invited.  "  The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say, 
Come  ;  and  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come ; 
and  let  him  that  is  athirst,  Come  ;  and  whoso- 
ever will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of  life  free- 
ly?  If  any,  therefore,  do  not  come  to  this  feast, 
the  reason  is  not,  that  they  have  not  been  sin- 
cerely invited. 

Reader,  though  you  have  had  many  kind  in- 
vitations before,  we  would  again,  in  the  name 
of  the  great  Master,  entreat  you  to  come  and 
share  these  rich  blessings  with  us.  Come,  taste 
and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good. 
5 


50  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

SECTION  XII. 

All  would  be  welcomed  to  the  Supper. 

NEITHER  is  it  the  reason,  why  all  sinners  do 
not  come  to  the  Great  Supper  of  the  Gospel, 
that  they  would  not  be  received  with  a  hearty 
welcome,  if  they  would  come.  Let  men  be 
ever  so  unworthy,  in  themselves  ;  let  them  have 
been  the  most  cruel  and  polluted ;  let  them 
have  lived  long  in  the  w^ays  of  sin  ;  if  they  can 
now  be  induced  to  break  off  their  sins  by  right- 
eousness, and  accept  the  invitation  to  this 
feast,  they  will  not  be  despised,  or  rejected,  in 
consequence  of  their  previous  character  or  ha- 
bits. As  proof  of  this,  look  at  a  bloody  Menas- 
seh,  a  polluted  Mary  Magdalene,  and  a  perse- 
cuting Saul  of  Tarsus.  "  There  is  joy,  in  hea- 
ven ;  joy,  among  the  angels,  when  one  sinner 
repenteth."  When  the  debased,  and  licentious, 
and  ungrateful  prodigal,  came  to  himself,  and 
returned  to  his  father,  did  the  father  drive  him 
from  his  house  with  reproachful  upbraidings  ? 
No ;  "  while  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off,  the 
father  saw  him  and  had  compassion  on  him, 
and  ran  and  fell  on  his  neck  and  kissed  him" 
And  this  was  not  all ;  he  said  to  his  servants  : 


ALL  WOULD  BE  WELCOME.  51 

"  Bring  forth  the  best  robe  and  put  it  on  him  ; 
and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on  his 
feet ;  and  bring  hither  the  fatted  calf  and  kill 
it ;  and  let  us  eat  and  be  merry,  for  this  my  son 
was  dead,  and  is  alive  again  ;  he  was  lost,  and 
is  found.  And  they  began  to  be  merry."  The 
three  parables,  in  the  15th  chapter  of  Luke, 
were  all  spoken  to  illustrate  the  joy  of  holy 
beings  at  the  repentance  of  sinners  ;  at  the 
sight  of  the  guilty  and  unworthy  coming  to  the 
Gospel  Supper.  What  was  the  joy  of  those 
concerned,  on  finding  the  lost  sheep,  and  the 
lost  money,  and  the  lost  son  !  Well,  this  joy 
represents  the  feelings  of  God  and  holy  beings, 
on  seeing  sinners  accept  the  invitation  to  this 
great  feast.  Our  Heavenly  Father  is  ready  to 
bid  every  sinner  a  cordial  welcome,  who  will 
come  to  this  Supper,  which  his  Son  has  provi- 
ded. The  blessed  Saviour  is  rejoiced  at  every 
new  instance  of  conversion  ;  for,  in  it  he  sees 
"the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  is  satisfied."  The 
Holy  Spirit  is  gratified,  whenever  his  efforts  to- 
induce  sinners  to  accept  of  Christ  arid  his  Gos- 
pel, are  successful.  Angels  are  elevated  with 
new  joy,  when  they  behold  any  human  being 
feasting  upon  the  provisions  of  mercy.  And 
sure  we  are  that  nothing  affords  the  people  of 


52  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

God  greater  satisfaction  than  the  sight  of  sin- 
ners flocking  to  Christ  for  salvation.  Dr.  Watts 
has  very  happily  expressed  the  universal  joy  of 
holy  beings,  at  the  repentance  of  a  sinner,  in  the 
following  hymn  : 

"  With  joy  the  FATHER  doth  approve 
The  fruit  of  his  eternal  love  ; 
The  SON,  with  joy,  looks  down,  and  sees 
The  purchase  of  his  agonies. 
The  SPIRIT  takes  delight  to  view 
The  holy  soul  He  formed  anew ; 
And  saints  and  angels  join  to  sing 
The  growing  empire  of  their  King." 

Reader,  will  you  not  help  forward  this  tide 
of  joy  among  holy  beings,  by  now  seeking  the 
Lord,  with  all  your  heart?  Say,  Yes;  and 
do  it. 


SECTION  XIII. 

Sinners  stay  away  from  the  feast  for  want 
of  appetite. 

IF  all  things  are  ready,  as  we  have  seen  in 
Chapter  VII.  of  this  little  book,  and  if  none  of 
the  obstacles,  which  we  have  been  examining 
in  the  Sections  of  this  Chapter,  prevents  men 


SINNERS    HAVE    NO    APPETITE.  53 

from  coming  to  the  Gospel  Supper,  why  is  it 
that  all  sinners,  who  hear  the  invitations  of 
the  Great  Master,  do  not  come  ? 

One  reason  why  all  sinners  do  not  come  to 
this  feast  of  love,  is,  that  they  have  no  appetite 
for  its  provisions.  The  Master  has  said : 
"  Blessed  are  they,  which  do  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness  ;  for  they  shall  be  filled." 
But  unconverted  men  do  not  thus  hunger  and 
thirst.  Though  starving  for  want  of  the  pro- 
visions of  this  Supper,  yet,  they  feel  full,  and 
in  need  of  nothing.  Though  actually  "  poor, 
and  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  blind,  and 
naked,"  yet  they  feel  that  they  are  "  rich,  and 
increased  with  goods,  and  have  need  of  noth- 
ing." As  long  as  men  do  not  Teel  themselves 
to  be  sinners,  Christ  has  no  attractions  for  them. 
They  look  upon  him  as  "a  root  out  of  dry 
ground,  which  hath  no  form  or  comeliness." 
As  long  as  they  do  not  feel  their  need  of  the 
Gospel,  there  is  no  prospect  that  they  will  ac- 
cept of  its  invitations.  They  never  can  be  in- 
duced to  come  to  the  great  Supper,  unless  they 
first  see  and  feel  their  need  of  it.  The  situa- 
tion, therefore,  of  those,  who  have  no  realizing 
sense  of  their  perishing  condition,  without  an 
interest  in  Christ,  is  truly  alarming.  Dying 
5* 


54  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

with  hunger,  and  yet  no  appetite  !  Sick  unto 

death,  and  yet  see  no  need  of  a  physician  ! 

Reader,   is   this   your   situation  ?  If    so,    be 
alarmed  for  yourself. 


SECTION  XIV. 

Sinners  are  unwilling  TO  HAVE  an  appetite 
for  this  Supper. 

ANOTHER  reason  why  sinners  stay  away 
from  the  Gospel  Feast,  is  their  unwillingness  to 
create  an  appetite  for  it.  When  men  have  no 
appetite,  but  want  one,  for  the  meat  that  per- 
isheth,  they  take  something  to  create  an  appe- 
tite. Not  so  with  those  who  need  spiritual  food, 
but  have  no  appetite  for  it.  Though  sinners 
have  no  relish  for  divine  things — for  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Gospel — yet,  instead  of  using  means 
to  provoke  an  appetite,  they  rather  strive  to 
destroy  what  inclination  they  have  for  Gospel 
food.  They  cry,  "  Peace,  Peace,"  to  themselves, 
and  endeavour  to  feel  that  they  are  in  no  dan- 
ger. If  they  cannot  succeed  in  quieting  all 
their  apprehensions,  in  regard  to  their  state  and 
prospects ;  if  the  Holy  Spirit  strives  to  convince 


them  of  sin,  they  use  their  best  efforts  to  grieve 
him  away.  When  their  consciences  become 
uneasy,  and  they  see  that  they  must  repent  or 
perish — that  they  must  come  to  the  Gospel 
Supper,  or  starve — instead  of  encouraging  these 
feelings  in  themselves  and  others,  they  strive  to 
destroy  them.  This  they  do  by  cavilling  at 
the  truth  of  God  ;  or,  by  indulging  in  trifling 
conversation  ;  or,  by  staying  away  from  those 
meetings  where  the  truth  is  plainly  preached  ; 
or,  by  reading  novels,  or  other  books  and  papers, 
which  they  ought  not  to  read  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, if  ever ;  or,  by  refusing  to  pray 
when  they  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  ;  or,  by  neglect- 
ing to  tell  their  feelings  to  their  minister,  or 
some  other  Christian  friend,  who  would  give 
them  suitable  advice,  and  pray  for  them ;  or, 
by  refusing  to  repent  of,  and  forsake,  all  their 
sins,  and  evil  ways ;  or,  by  refusing  to  take  a 
stand  on  the  Lord's  side,  and  thus  manifest  that 
they  are  not  ashamed  of  Christ ;  or,  by  their 
want  of  decision  of  character ;  in  a  word,  by 
not  being  willing  to  forsake  all  that  they  have, 
and  to  come  in  haste  to  the  great  Supper  of  the 
Gospel.  This  unwillingness  to  create  an  appe- 
tite, and  this  desire  to  destroy  what  appetite 
sinners  have  for  the  Gospel,  our  divine  Saviour 


56  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

speaks  of  as  follows  :  "  Every  one  that  doeth 
evil,  hateth  the  light,  neither  cometh  to  the 
light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved" 
Stephen  asserts  the  same  thing,  when  he  says, 
"  Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Now,  as  long  as  sinners  have  no  appetite  for 
this  feast,  and  are  unwilling  to  have  an  appe- 
tite created,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  they 
will  come  to  it,  though  ever  so  kindly  invited. 
And  my  dear  impenitent  reader,  is  this  not  your 
case  ?  How  long  shall  it  be  so  with  you  ? 
You  may  soon  die,  and  perish  forever,  for  want 
of  this  Supper  which  you  are  now  slighting. 
Look  to  it. 


SECTION  XV. 
Sinners  do  not  like  the  terms  of  admission. 

ANOTHER  reason  why  sinners  will  not  come 
to  this  great  Supper,  is,  that  they  do  not  like 
the  terms  on  which  guests  are  received.  The 
Great  Master,  who  has  provided  the  feast,  wishes 
to  have  every  thing  done  decently  and  in  order. 
That  things  may  be  thus  conducted,  He  has 
procured  a  set  of  uniform  for  the  guests  to  wear, 
and  made  certain  very  reasonable  conditions 


DON'T    LIKE    THE    TERMS.  57 

for  the  guests  to  comply  with.  In  order,  there- 
.bre,  to  enjoy  the  dainties  of  this  Supper,  those 
invited  must  put  on  the  wedding  garment,  and 
follow  the  directions  of  the  Master.  But  sin- 
ners are  so  well  pleased  with  their  own  gar- 
ments, that  it  is  with  difficulty  they  can  be  in- 
duced to  change  them  for  the  one  provided  for 
the  occasion.  And  they  do  not  like  to  come 
under  the  dictation  of  the  Master.  All  that 
come  to  the  Supper  are  required  to  repent  of 
their  sins  as  committed  against  God  ;  to  believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  the  heart ;  to 
live  a  life  of  prayer  ;  to  forsake  all  sinful  prac- 
tices ;  to  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly  in 
the  world ;  to  deny  themselves  and  take  up 
their  cross  and  follow  Christ ;  to  make  restitu- 
tion, if  possible,  where  justice  demands ;  to  come 
out  from  the  world  and  be  separate  ;  to  confess 
Christ  before  men  ;  to  do  as  they  would  be  done 
by  ;  to  work  in  the  Master's  vineyard  continu- 
ally ;  and  to  unite  with  the  friends  of  the  Mas- 
ter in  every  good  cause.  Now,  these  terms  of 
admission  are  not  agreeable  to  unholy  beings, 
and  therefore  unconverted  men  will  not  comply 
with  them,  and  thus  come  to  this  feast.  If 
they  could  enjoy  the  comforts  of  the  Supper7 
without  being  obliged  to  submit  to  such  humil- 


58  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

iating  conditions,  they  would  like  it.  And 
sometimes  it  is  the  case  that  persons  think 
themselves  willing  to  come  to  this  feast,  when 
they  are,  in  fact,  only  willing  to  enjoy  the  pro- 
visions. Such  a  willingness  every  selfish  man, 
and  every  depraved  being  in  the  universe,  pos- 
sesses. All  are  willing  to  be  happy,  but  all  are 
not  willing  to  serve  God  and  be  holy.  As  soon 
as  men  are  really  willing  to  come  to  the  Gospel 
Supper  as  it  is,  they  do  immediately  come. 
"  The  willing  and  obedient  shall  eat  the  good 
of  the  land." 

Reader,  are  you  as  willing  to  obey  Christ  as 
you  are  to  be  happy  1  Religion  is  obedience 
to  Christ.  "  He  became  the  author  of  eternal 
salvation  to  all  them  that  obey  him."  If  then 
you  desire  eternal  salvation,  obey  Christ,  and 
you  will  have  it. 


SECTION  XVI. 
Sinners  do  not  like  God's  people. 

ANOTHER  reason  why  many  do  not  come  to 
this  feast,  is,  that  they  do  not  like  those  who 
have  accepted  the  invitation,  and  who  have 


DON'T  LIKE  GOD'S  PEOPLE.  59 

put  on  the  wedding  garment.  After  the  Fall, 
God  said  to  the  serpent,  "  I  will  put  enmity  be- 
tween thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy 
seed  and  her  seed."  This  enmity  has  existed 
ever  since,  and  wicked  men  have  borne  a  mor- 
tal hatred  to  those,  who  have  complied  with 
the  terms  of  this  feast,  and  who  have  thus  sepa- 
rated themselves  from  the  ungodly.  Sometimes 
wicked  men  are  honest  enough  to  acknowledge 
their  hatred  to  God's  people.  This  was  the 
case  with  king  Ahab.  He  acknowledged  that 
he  hated  the  prophet  Micaiah,  who  was  a  de- 
voted man  of  God.  Whether  unconverted  men 
see  their  own  enmity  to  Christians  or  not, 
whether  they  acknowledge  it  or  not,  the  blessed 
Master  assured  us  of  its  existence.  He  said  to 
those  who  had  come  to  the  Gospel  Supper, 
"  Ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  namds 
sake"  And  again  he  says,  "Blessed  are  ye 
when  men  shall  hate  you,  and  when  they  shall 
separate  you  from  their  company,  and  shall  re- 
proach you,  and  cast  out  your  name  as  evil,  for 
the  Son  of  man's  sake."  And  again  he  said, 
"  If  the  world  hate  you,  ye  know  that  it  hated 
me  before  it  hated  you.  If  ye  were  of  the  world, 
the  world  would  love  his  own  ;  but  because  ye 
are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you 


60  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

out  of  the  world,  therefore  the  world  hatetl 
you."  In  prayer  to  the  Father,  the  Saviour 
says  of  his  followers,  "  The  world  hath  hated 
them,  because  they  are  not  of  the  world,  even  sa 
I  am  not  of  the  world." 

We  see,  therefore,  it  is  no  new  thing,  and  n< 
strange  thing,  for  those  who  will  not  come  tc 
the  Gospel  feast,  to  hate  those  who  do  come 
This  being  the  case,  it  is  no  wonder  that  such 
persons  do  not  come  to  this  great  Supper.  Whc 
likes  to  go  into  the  company  of  those  whom  he 
hates  ?  As  long,  therefore,  as  sinners  continue 
to  hate  God's  people,  so  long  they  will  staj 
away  from  the  Gospel  feast.  There  must  be  a 
likeness  of  character  and  habits  before  thej 
can  enjoy  each  other's  society.  Either  Chris- 
tians must  lay  aside  their  wedding  garments — 
the  peculiarities  of  religion — or  else  sinners  musl 
put  on  their  wedding  garments — must  give  up 
their  hatred  to  God's  people,  and  become  lovers 
of  that  which  is  good — or  there  can  be  no  fel- 
lowship between  them ;  they  must  remain 
separate,  in  order  to  any  enjoyment  on  eithei 
side.  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  sinners  will 
never  consent  to  come  to  the  great  Supper  till 
they  cease  to  hate  Christians. 

. 


DON'T  LOVE  GOD.  61 

Reader,  if  God  loves  his  people  as  the  apple 

of  his  eye,  why  cannot  you  love  them  ?  He  is 
the  best  judge  of  what  is  lovely. 


«sn, 

C>   frfcitiJtof 

VtJ*  ,^9*^^    '*** 

^-5?^ 


X75rA  ^     O  > 

SECTION  XVII. 

V 


Sinners  do  not  love  God. 


ANOTHER  reason  why  the  unconverted  do  not 
come  to  the  Gospel  feast,  is,  that  they  are  not 
on  good  terms  with  the  Master.  If  men  are 
invited  by  one  of.  their  fellow  creatures  to  at- 
tend a  party,  or  to  take  tea  with  him,  they  are 
not  likely  to  accept  the  invitation,  unless  they 
are  pleased  with  him.  We  do  not  like  to  pay  our 
respects  to  those  whom  we  hate.  As  uncon- 
verted men  are  " haters  of  God"  (Rom.  i.  30,) 
and  " hate  both  the  Father  and  the  Son"  (John 
15.  23,  25,)  and  possess  a  "  carnal  mind,  which 
is  enmity  against  God"  (Rom.  viii.  7,)  it  is 
evident  that,  (so  long  as  they  cherish  such  feel- 
ings,) they  will  not  come  to  the  great  Supper, 
which  the  Son  of  God  has  provided.  Sinners  may 
even  feel  their  need  of  Gospel  blessings  ;  may 
be  assured  that  these  blessings  are  offered  freely 
to  all ;  may  be  urged  by  all  the  motives  drawn 
6 


62  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

from  the  comforts  of  the  feast  on  the  one  hand, 
and  by  all  the  motives  drawn  from  the  miseries  of 
starvation  on  the  other ;  still,  if  they  will  not 
give  up  their  hatred  of  God,  his  law  and  govern- 
ment— and  their  hatred  of  his  sovereignty  as 
manifested  in  his  disposal  of  all  things  and  all 
events — they  can  never  be  induced  to  come  to 
the  great  Supper  of  the  Gospel.  If  sinners  will 
first  cease  to  hate  God  and  religion,  and  give 
their  affections  to  Christ,  they  will  then  gladly 
enjoy  familiar  intercourse  with  him,  and  come 
to  his  feast  of  love. 

Reader,  what  are  your  feelings  towards  God 
and  his  government?  "I  pray  you,  in  Christ's 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 


SECTION  XVIII 

Sinners  think  they  can  do  without  the  Gospel 
Supper. 

SOME  men  do  not  come  to  this  feast,  because 
they  think  that  they  can  do  without  it.  They 
are  making  provisions  for  themselves,  which 
they  seem  to  suppose  will  answer  every  pur- 
pose. They  seem  to  think  it  beneath  their 
dignity  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  this  Sup- 


THINK  THEY  CAN  DO  WITHOUT  IT.        63 

per,  when  they  have  done  so  much  to  provide 
for  themselves.  They  are  ready  to  ask,  "  Must 
we,  who  are  so  moral  and  good,  be  born  again 
to  fit  us  for  this  feast?  Must  we,  who  have 
done  so  much  good  in  the  world,  look  upon  all 
our  doings  as  worthless,  as  to  preparing  us  for 
this  Supper?  Must  we,  who  are  rich  and 
increased  with  goods,  become  beggars,  in  order 
to  be  partakers  of  Gospel  blessings  ?  Must  we 
be  wholly  indebted  to  another  for  a  wedding 
garment,  and  a  Supper  ?  Let  it  never  be  said 
that  we  have  submitted  to  any  such  humilia- 
ting terms."  The  sentiment  of  this  language 
is  often  felt  by  the  self-righteous  moralist.  He 
seems  to  suppose  that  his  good  deeds  will  an- 
swer the  same  purpose  to  him,  that  the  Gospel 
Supper  does  to  those  who  are  great  sinners. 
He  does  not  seem  to  agree  with  the  apostle 
Paul,  who  has  asserted  and  proved  that  no  sin- 
ner, great  or  small,  can  be  justified  in  God's 
sight  by  his  good  deeds,  or  by  his  morality,  or 
by  the  works  of  the  law.  And  lest  some  men 
should  say,  "  1  shall  be  justified,  for  /  have  not 
sinned,"  Paul  proves  conclusively  that  "  all 
have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God."  Now,  so  long  as  these  persons  think  that 
they  can  be  saved  without  repentance,  and 


64  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

faith,  and  regeneration,  they  never  will  come 
to  the  Gospel  Supper. 

Reader,  how  is  it  with  you  ?  Are  you  de- 
pending on  your  native,  or  acquired  goodness, 
for  justification  before  God  ?  Does  the  idea, 
that  you  are  not  as  bad  as  many  others,  prevent 
your  feeling  your  need  of  Christ,  and  your  com- 
ing to  him  for  life  ?  I  assure  you,  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  Master,  that  you  must  feed  on 
this  Supper,  or  perish  ;  you  must  believe  in 
Christ,  or  be  damned.  "  Wherefore  do  ye  spend 
money  for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and  your 
labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  ?  Hearken 
diligently  unto  me,  and  eat  ye  that  which  is 
good,  and  let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness." 


SECTION  XIX. 

Some  think  ALL  will  enjoy  the  Supper  uncon- 
ditionally. 

A  portion  of  mankind,  defer  accepting  the  in- 
vitation to  this  feast,  because  they  have  imbibed 
the  notion,  that  all  men  will  ultimately  enjoy 
its  provisions,  whether  they  comply  with  the 
terms  or  not.  By  waiting  awhile,  according  to 


THINK    ALL    WILL    ENJOY    IT.  65 

their  sentiments,  they  will  gain  admittance, 
without  the  trouble  and  expanse  of  procuring 
tickets.  They  consider  the  terms  of  admission 
very  disagreeable  and  oppressive.  The  terms 
which  most  annoy  them,  and  which  they  hope  to 
get  round  by  waiting,  are  these  :  "  Ye  must  be 
born  again ;"  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  pe- 
rish ; "  "  He  that  belie veth  not,  shall  be 
damned  ;  "  "  Without  holiness,  no  man  shall 
see  the  Lord  ; "  "  Pray  without  ceasing ; "  "Re- 
member the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy • " 
"  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  un- 
righteous man  his  thoughts  ; "  "  Swear  not  at 
all ; "  "  Forsake  all  ungodliness,  and  worldly 
lusts,  and  live  soberly,  and  righteously,  and 
godly  in  the  world."  Now,  as  long  as  they  have 
the  idea,  that  all  men  will  enjoy  the  feast  alike, 
whether  they  comply  with  these  terms  or  not, 
they  will  not  be  likely  to  comply.  They  do  not 
believe,  it  would  seem,  that  the  Master  of  the 
feast  will  say  to  some  who  were  bidden  :  "  Ye 
shall  not  taste  of  my  Supper."  As  long  as  they 
entertain  these  sentiments,  they  will  not  come 
to  the  feast  of  the  Gospel,  though  urged  by  ten 
thousand  motives. 

Reader,  be  not  deceived.     Your  eternal  all 
is  at  stake. 

6* 


66  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 


SECTION  XX. 

Some   delay  coming,  because  they  hope  the 
Supper  will  be  kept  waiting  for  them. 

OTHERS,  again,  neglect  or  delay  coming  to 
the  Gospel  feast,  because  they  hope  that,  as  all 
things  are  now  ready,  they  will  continue  to  be 
ready  and  waiting  some  time  longer,  before  the 
door  will  be  finally  closed.  Because  they  think 
it  probable  that  they  shall  live  a  few  years 
longer,  they  cannot  be  persuaded  to  come  now. 
They  know  that  they  need  the  Supper ;  they 
are  not  among  those  who  see  insurmountable 
obstacles,  in  the  way  of  their  coming  to  it ; 
they  admit  there  is  room  for  them  ;  they  know 
that  they  have  been  fcften  invited ;  they  do  not 
doubt,  but  they  should  be  made  welcome,  if 
they  come  ;  they  think  they  are  willing  to  feel 
their  need  ;  they  do  not  object  to  the  terms  of 
admission  ;  they  do  not  feel  any  particular  dis- 
like to  those  who  have  come  to  the  feast;  they 
think  they  do  not  hate  the  Master  ;  they  are 
convinced  that  they  cannot  do  without  the  Gos- 
pel Supper  ;  they  are  not  among  those  who  be- 
lieve that  all  will  partake  of  this  great  feast ; 
and  yet,  because  they  may,  possibly,  have  an 


HOPE  IT  WILL  BE  KEPT  WAITING.         67 

opportunity  of  coming  at  a  future  time,  they 
cannot  be  induced  to  come  now. 

O,  my  impenitent  reader,  is  it  kind  to  treat 
the  blessed  Saviour  in  this  way  ?  When  he 
has  provided  salvation  for  you,  at  the  cost  of 
his  own  heart's  blood,  will  you  delay  coming", 
at  his  invitation,  and  partaking  of  this  great 
salvation  ?  And  will  you  delay,  too,  because 
he  possibly  may  be  so  long  suffering  as  to  make 
you  the  offer  of  mercy  again,  at  a  future  time, 
if  you  do  not  accept  it  now  ?  Will  you  run  the 
awful  risk  of  perishing  eternally,  on  the  bare 
possibility,  that  you  may  find  mercy  at  the  ele- 
venth hour,  if  you  do  slight  it  now  ?  Remem- 
ber, it  is  not  said :  Behold  !  to-morrow  is  the 
accepted  time  ;  but  it  is  said  :  "  Behold  !  now 
is  the  accepted  time  ;  Behold  !  now  is  the  day 
of  salvation  ;"  "  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not  your  heart." 

"  Be  wise  to-day  ;  'tis  madness  to  defer." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SINNERS  EXCUSE  THEMSELVES  FOR  NOT  COMING 
TO  THE  GREAT  SUPPER. 

AFTER  the  oxen  and  the  fadings  were  killed, 
and  the  Supper  was  in  readiness,  and  the  ser- 
vant sent  out,  at  Supper-time,  to  say  to  them 
that  were  bidden  :  "  Come,  for  all  things  are 
now  ready,"  what  was  his  success  ?  We  might 
expect  that  all  would  make  haste  to  come  ;  that 
all  would  say  to  the  servant  :  "  Tell  your  Mas- 
ter, we  are  greatly  obliged  to  him  for  his  kind 
invitation,  and  will  take  care  to  be  there  in  sea- 
son." But,  instead  of  this,  fhey  all,  with  one 
consent,  as  though  they  had  been  together,  for 
consultation,  began  to  make  excuse.  Instead 
of  wishing  to  go,  they  wished  to  stay  away. 
Among  all  that  had  been  bidden,  not  even  one 
was  ready  to  comply  with  the  invitation.  Here 
are  the  richest  and  best  provisions  of  the  uni- 
verse offered  to  poor,  starving,  guilty  creatures, 
and  they  all,  as  though  by  agreement,  treating 
both  the  provisions,  and  him  who  provided 


I    HAVE    BOUGHT    SOME    LAND.  69 

them,  with  the  utmost  indifference  !  Be  aston- 
ished, O  heavens,  at  this  !  The  great  God  has 
made  a  costly  feast,  on  purpose,  for  miserable, 
wretched  men,  and  has  kindly  invited  them  to 
partake  of  it,  without  money,  and  without 
price,  but  not  a  single  individual  of  them  all, 
will  deign  to  come  to  his  feast,  without  omni- 
potent urging.  They  all  were  ready  to  ask  to 
be  excused.  But  let  us  not  judge  them  too  has- 
tily. Possibly  they  had  good  excuses  for  not 
coming1.  What  were  their  excuses  ? 


SECTION  I. 
A  new  purchase  of  land  lay  in  the  way. 

THE  first  said  to  the  servant,  who  brought 
him  the  invitation  :  "  I  have  bought  a  piece  of 
ground,  arid  I  must  needs  go  and  see  it ;  I  pray 
thee  have  me  excused."  God  had  so  prospered 
this  man,  that  he  was  adding  farm  to  farm. 
And  how  does  he  manifest  his  gratitude  for  di- 
vine favours  ?  He  shows  his  feelings  to  his 
kind  Benefactor,  by  slighting  his  great  and  cost- 
ly Supp?r.  How  would  his  excuse  look,  if  it 
were  enlarged  into  a  regular  prayer  to  God  ?  It 


70  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

would  read  something  after  this  manner  :  "  O 
Lord,  I  am  aware  that  thou  hast  been  at  great 
expense  to  provide  a  Supper  for  men,«for  me  and 
others  ;  and  I  acknowledge,  that  I  have  been 
kindly  and  urgently  invited  to  come,  and  par- 
take of  it ;  but,  Lord,  I  don't  see  how  I  can 
well  command  time  enough  to  accept  your  in- 
vitation. Thou,  Lord,  hast  given  me  so  much 
worldly  prosperity,  that  I  have  no  time  for  reli- 
gion. I  acknowledge  that  I  ought  to  pray  in 
my  family,  and  attend  prayer  meetings,  but 
thou  hast  given  me  so  much  to  take  care  of, 
that  I  have  no  time.  I  ought  to  spend  some 
time  every  day  in  my  closet,  and  in  reading  the 
Bible,  and  in  conversing  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion ;  but  I  cannot  do  it,  because  my  farm,  or 
store,  or  shop,  or  mill,  or  some  other  branch  of 
business,  with  which  thou  hast  entrusted  me, 
demands  my  whole  attention.  I  ought  to  be  a 
true  Christian,  and  live  in  such  a  manner  that 
I  might  be  continually  feasting  on  the  Great 
Supper  of  the  Gospel,  and  enjoying  thy  perpe- 
tual smiles,  but  thou  hast  recently  prospered  me 
so  much,  that  I  had  some  spare  money,  which 
I  have  just  been  laying  out  for  a  piece  of  ground, 
and  it  is  necessary  that  I  should  now  go  and 
see  what  sort  of  bargain  I  have  made.  I  pray 


I    HAVE    BOUGHT    SOME    OXEN,  71 

thee,  therefore,  excuse  me  for  not  coming  to 
your  great  Supper." 

O,  what  an  excuse  !  How  impious  ?  How 
God-provoking  !  Just  as  though  he  could  not 
defer  seeing  his  new  purchase  till  another  day  ! 

Reader,  Be  careful  that  no  worldly  consider- 
ation keep  you  from  Christ. 


SECTION  II. 
Oxen  a  hindrance. 

PERHAPS  the  excuses  of  the  others  were  bet- 
ter ?  Let  us  examine  the  next :  "And  another 
said,  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go 
to  prove  them  ;  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused." 
The  nature  of  this  excuse  is  much  like  the 
first.  Property  comes  in  the  way  of  God's  ser- 
vice. O,  what  a  blessing  to  be  poor,  and  what 
a  calamity  to  be  rich  !  The  poor  man  has  no 
piece  of  ground,  or  drove  of  oxen,  to  keep  him 
from  the  Gospel  Supper.  Our  Saviour  says  : 
"  Blessed  are  the  poor."  ThQ  poor  have  the 
Gospel  preached  to  them  ;  they  are  more  likely 
to  go  and  hear  preaching,  than  the  rich ;  and 
they  are,  generally,  more  ready  to  embrace  the 
offers  of  mercy,  than  the  rich.  "God  hath 


72  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

Chosen  the  poor  of  this  world,  to  be  rich  in 
faith,  and  heirs  of  his  kingdom."  Why  do  not 
those  persons,  to  whom  the  Giver  of  all  mer- 
cies has  committed  property,  learn  to  employ 
themselves,  and  their  property,  too,  in  his  ser- 
vice ?  Property  is  a  loan  from  the  Almighty^ 
to  be  repaid  with  interest.  And  if  the  heart  of 
man  was  not  set  on  the  creature — property, 
more  than  on  the  Creator,  his  piece  of  ground, 
his  oxen,  or  any  other  kind  of  property,  would 
not  keep  him  from  embracing  the  Gospel,  and 
partaking  of  this  Great  Supper. 

But,  taking  men  as  they  are  by  nature,  de- 
praved, selfish  beings  ;  property,  to  any  conside- 
rable amount,  is  a  dangerous  boon.  Consider- 
ing how  prone  men  are  to  love  the  world,  and 
the  things  of  the  world,  we  cannot  wonder  at 
our  Saviour's  exclamation  :  "  How  hardly  shall 
they  that  have  riches,  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  ! "  When  the  disciples  expressed 
their  surprise  at  Christ's  remark,  and  asked  : 
"  Who,  then,  can  be  saved?"  he  answered,  that 
"  With  men,  it  is  impossible  ;  but  not  with  God. 
for  with  God,  all  things  are  possible." 

The  difficulty  with  the  rich  is,  that  they  are 
too  apt  to  trust  in  their  riches.  They  are  lia- 
ble to  feel  a  kind  of  independence,  which  is  in- 


I    HAVE    BOUGHT    SOME    OXEN.  73 

consistent  with  that  child-like  spirit,  which  we 
must  possess,  if  we  would  enter  heaven.  In 
regard  to  the  excuses  which  these  men  offered, 
every  one  must  see  that  it  could  not  have  been 
of  such  infinite  importance,  that  they  should 
see  their  new  bought  land,  or  try  their  newly- 
purchased  oxen,  on  that  very  day.  If  they  had 
been  at  all  disposed  to  attend  this  glorious  ban- 
quet, they  could  easily  have  deferred  these  un- 
important matters  till  another  time.  They  so 
clearly  betrayed  a  want  of  disposition  to  please 
and  gratify  the  Master  of  the  Feast,  that  he 
took  their  excuses  as  an  insult.  Why  were  not 
these  men  honest  enough  to  tell  the  servant  that 
they  had  no  wish  to  take  Supper  with  his  Mas- 
ter ?  They  played  the  hypocrite.  So  does  al- 
most every  person,  who  pretends  to  offer  excuses 
for  not  being  a  Christian. 

It  may  be  so  with  you,  dear  reader.  When 
you  are  urged  to  become  a  Christian,  if,  instead 
of  saying  with  all  your  heart,  "  I  will  now 
serve  the  Lord. "  and  doing  it,  you  have  rea- 
sons to  give  why  you  are  not  serving  him; 
these  reasons  show  that  you  have  no  mind,  or 
disposition  to  serve  him.  For,  if  you  had  a 
mind  to  serve  the  Lord,  you  would  at  once  com- 
mence serving  him.  Try  it, 
7 


74  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

SECTION  III. 

/  A  wife  is  a  hindrance. 

Let  us  see  if  the  third  had  not  a  better  ex- 
cuse. He  said,  "  I  have  married  a  wife,  and 
therefore  I  cannot  come."  It  is  too  often  the 
case,  that  young  people  attend  public  worship  far 
more  punctually  before  they  are  married,  than 
they  do  afterwards.  Is  it  necessary  that  it 
should  be  so  ?  Do  they  not  need  the  blessing 
of  God  as  much  after,  as  before  their  marriage  ? 
Is  it  true,  that  when  a  man  has  married  a  wife 
he  cannot  come  ?  But  the  excuse,  which  we 
are  considering,  is  not  so  much  for  neglecting 
religious  meetings,  as  it  is  for  neglecting  to  come 
to  Christ  for  salvation.  And  are  people,  when 
they  get  married,  excusable  for  not  serving 
God  ?  Especially,  are  newly  married  people 
freed  from  obligations  to  fear  God  and  keep  his 
commandments  ?  Surely  they  are  not  freed 
from  such  obligations.  There  is  not  a  day  or 
an  hour  of  man's  life,  either  before  or  after  mar- 
riage, when  he  is  not  bound  to  love  God  with 
all  his  heart,  and  to  serve  him  in  sincerity  and 
in  truth.  And  if  men  who  are  married  cannot 
serve  God  as  well  as  those  who  are  not  married, 


I    AM    A    DEIST.  75 

surely  it  is  better  not  to  marry.  But  Solomon 
assures  us,  that  "  he  that  getteth  a  wife,  getteth 
a  good  thing,  and  obtaineth  favour  of  the  Lord." 
This  shows  that  married  people  are  under 
special  obligations  to  love  and  serve  the  Lord. 
It  is  therefore,  not  true,  that  a  man's  getting 
married  puts  it  out  of  his  power  to  come  to  the 
Gospel  feast.  And  for  a  man  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, or  under  any  other  circumstances 
in  which  God  shall  place  him,  to  pretend  that 
he  cannot  be  a  Christian — cannot  serve  the 
Lord — cannot  do  his  duty,  is  exceedingly  pro- 
voking to  God,  and  dangerous  to  his  own  soul. 
We  have  now  examined  the  excuses  which 
were  made  by  those  who  were  invited  to  the 
Supper.  But  there  are  many  other  excuses, 
which  men  are  in  the  habit  of  making  when  they 
are  urged  to  become  Christians.  In  the  follow- 
ing sections  we  will  examine  some  of  them. 


SECTION  IV. 
/  do  not  know  that  the  Bible  is  true. 

As  the  minister  of  Jesus  attempts  to  induce 
men  to  fear  God,  and  keep  his  commandments, 
one  tries  to  ease  his  own  conscience  by  saying, 


76  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

"  I  don't  know  that  the  Bible  is  God's  word." 
To  such  an  one  I  would  say,  Unless  you  are 
quite  sure  that  the  Scriptures  were  not  given 
by  divine  inspiration,  you  will  do  well  to  exam- 
ine their  claims  to  being  God's  holy  Book  of 
truth.  If  a  document  were  placed  in  your 
hands,  purporting  to  be  a  will  conveying  a  vast 
amount  of  property  to  yourself  and  others,  who 
would  comply  with  certain  conditions  therein 
specified,  would  you  not  carefully  examine  its 
claims  to  authenticity  ?  Would  you  not  read 
the  document  through,  with  the  utmost  careful- 
ness and  attention  ?  Would  you  not  examine 
all  accessible  evidences,  internal  and  external, 
that  it  was  written  by  the  individual  whoso 
name  it  bears  ?  And  would  not  your  efforts,  to 
satisfy  your  mind  of  its  authenticity,  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  interest  you  had  in  it,  if  it  should 
prove  to  be  true  1  Well,  such  a  document  is 
the  Bible.  It  is  the  last  will  and  testament  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  conveying  "  an  inherit- 
ance incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth 
not  away,"  to  all  those  who  believe  and  obey 
the  truth.  Have  you  examined  all  the  eviden- 
ces, within  your  reach,  in  favour  of  the  divine 
authenticity  of  the  Bible  ?  Have  you  particu- 
larly noticed  the  purity  of  its  moral  precepts, 


I    AM    A    DEIST.  77 

the  perfect  harmony  of  all  its  parts,  the  eleva- 
tion of  its  style,  and  the  sublimity  of  its 
thoughts  ?  Have  you  weighed  the  evidences 
of  its  being  a  divine  revelation,  which  crowd 
around  you  as  you  contemplate  its  well-attest- 
ced  miracles,  and  its  numerous  prophesies,  and 
their  exact  fulfilment  ?  Have  you  marked  the 
wonderful  and  happy  change,  which  the  Bible, 
carefully  read  and  obeyed,  has  always  produ- 
ed  in  nations,  in  communities,  and  in  individu- 
als ?  Have  you  ever  inquired  the  cause  of  the 
mighty  difference,  in  the  character  and  habits 
of  the  people  of  England,  at  the  present  time, 
from  what  they  were  previous  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity  into  that  country  ?  Have 
you  ever  satisfied  your  own  mind,  as  to  what 
produced  such  a  sudden  and  wonderful  change 
in  the  persecuting  Saul  of  Tarsus  ?  Have  you 
not  known  of  similar  changes  in  some  of  your 
acquaintances  ?  How  do  you  account  for  these 
salutary  effects,  produced  by  Christianity,  if  the 
.Bible,  and  the  influence  which  accompanies  it, 
are  not  divine  2 

Again,  permit  me  to  ask,  have  you  ever  read 

the  Bible  through  ?     If  you  have,  did  you  do  it 

with  an  earnest  desire  to  find  out  whether  it  is 

^God's  word  or  not  ?     And  if  you  have  not  read 

7* 


78  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

it  through,  are  you  wise  to  entertain  doubts 
about  its  authenticity,  especially,  when  there  is 
more  evidence  of  its  authenticity,  than  there 
is  of  the  authenticity  of  any  other  ancient  book? 
I  entreat  you  to  stop  and  think,  before  you  ven- 
ture any  nearer  the  fatal  gulf  of  infidelity.  If 
the  Bible  is  true,  the  Christian  is  safe,  while 
the  unconverted  sinner  is  in  the  utmost  danger. 
If  the  Bible  is  true,  all  true  Christians  will  soon 
be  in  heaven,  and  all  unbelievers  will  soon  be 
in  hell.  And  if  the  Bible  is  not  true,  the  unbe- 
liever gains  nothing  by  his  unbelief,  and  the 
Christian  loses  nothing  by  his  faith  in  Christ, 
Is  it  not,  therefore,  a  dictate  of  prudence,  to  be- 
come a  sincere  and  devoted  Christian  ?  There 
is  no  risk  in  that,  while  there  is  a  fearful  risk 
in  living  in  sin. 


SECTION  V. 
Universalism  a  hindrance  to  salvation. 

Another  person,  when  urged  to  repent  and 
believe  the  Gospel,  meets  the  servant  of  Christ 
with  the  excuse,  "  I  am  disposed  to  think  that 
all  men  will  finally  be  saved."  I  would  use 
the  following  language  with  such  a  person : 


I    AM    A    UNIVERSALIST.  79 

On  what  is  your  impression  founded,  that  all 
will  be  saved  7  Is  it  because  you  think  all  men 
are  living  in  holy  obedience  to  Christ  7  Paul 
says  that  Christ  has  become  "  the  author  of 
eternal  salvation  unto  all  them  that  obey  him" 
Can  you  think  that  the  swearer,  the  Sabbath  - 
breaker,  the  drunkard,  the  murderer,  the  thief, 
the  libertine,  the  prayerless,  the  impenitent,  the 
unbeliever,  the  neglector  of  salvation,  or  the 
idolator,  obeys  Christ  ?  If  these  do  not  obey 
Christ,  and  if  Christ  is  the  author  of  salvation 
to  only  such  as  obey  him,  how  can  you  think 
that  Christ  will  give  eternal  salvation  to  these  7 
Again,  Paul  says  that  without  holiness  no  man 
can  see  the  Lord.  Now,  is  it  because  you  think 
all  men  are  holy,  that  you  are  disposed  to  be- 
lieve they  will  all  be  saved  7  A  holy  being  hates 
sin  and  avoids  it  as  an  abominable  thing  which 
is  hateful  to  God  and  all  good  men.  No  one 
can  think  that  such  as  allow  themselves  to  take 
the  name  of  God  in  vain,  or  to  visit  scenes  of  de- 
bauchery, or  to  commit  adultery,  or  to  wrong  and 
oppress  their  fellow  men,  are  holy.  How  then 
can  you  suppose  that  such  will  be  saved  7  But 
perhaps  you  think  that  all  will  be  saved  because 
God  is  merciful.  As  to  God's  being  merciful, 
there  is  no  doubt.  The  life  of  every  human 


80  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

being,  and  all  the  blessings  which  make  life 
comfortable,  are  undeniable  evidences  of  God's 
mercy.  But  to  whom  is  the  mercy  of  God 
pledged  ?  Is  it  pledged  to  men  without  regard 
to  their  moral  character?  Surely  not.  "The 
mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  him"  But  di- 
vine truth  assures  us  that  the  wicked  "have 
7io  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes"  and  of  course 
God's  mercy  is  not  pledged  to  them.  And  if  the 
mercy  of  God  did  not  prevent  his  sweeping  off 
the  guilty  inhabitants  of  the  old  world  with  a 
flood,  and  did  not  prevent  his  overthrowing 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  with  a  shower  of  fire 
and  brimstone,  we  have  no  reason  to  conclude 
that  it  will  prevent  his  turning  the  wicked  into 
hell. 

Why  then  do  you  think  that  all  will  en- 
ter heaven  ?  Have  you  not  read  what  our  di- 
vine Saviour  said  on  this  subject,  in  Luke  xiii. 
24 :  "  Many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter 
in,  and  shall  not  be  able  ?"  And  he  makes  this 
declaration,  as  a  reason  why  men  should  strive 
to  enter  in.  Now,  if  many  will  not  be  able  to 
enter  heaven,  even  though  they  seek  to  do  it, 
how  can  you  think  that  all  will  be  able  to  en- 
ter? 


I    AM    A    UNIVERSALIST.  81 

Again,  have  you  forgotten  that  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  and  the  cities  about  them,  are  set 
forth  as  an  example,  suffering  the  vengeance 
of  eternal  fire  ?  If  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  Ad- 
mah  and  Zeboim,  are  suffering  in  eternal  fire, 
they,  of  course,  cannot,  to  all  eternity,  enter 
heaven.  And  if  they,  and  the  imprisoned  spirits 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  world,  are  not  sav- 
ed, may  not  others  also  fail  of  salvation  ? 

Again,  have  you  not  often  read  of  those  who 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  If  what  is  said 
in  regard  to  such  is  not  fresh  in  your  mind,  just 
turn  to  Mark  iii.  28,  29, 30 :  "But  he  that  shall 
blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  hath  never 
forgiveness,  but  is  in  danger  of  eternal  damna- 
tion." Here  we  have  the  declaration  of  him 
who  cannot  lie,  that  the  scribes,  who  said.  Christ 
hath  an  unclean  spirit,  "  will  never  have  forgive- 
ness, and  of  course  will  never  enter  heaven. 
You  see  therefore  that  the  Bible  plainly  teaches 
that  some  of  mankind  will  not  be  saved.  But 
perhaps  you  think  that  you  do  not  deserve  eter- 
nal punishment,  and  that,  therefore,  God,  as  a 
just  Being,  will  not  doom  you  to  suffer  it.  Are 
you,  as  a  party  interested  in  this  matter,  quali- 
fied to  decide  how  much  punishment  you  de- 
serve, or  how  much  mischief  in  God's  universe 


OZ  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

your  sins  have  a  tendency  to  produce?  The 
Great  Lawgiver  and  Judge  has  expressed  his 
judgment  on  this  point.  He  says,  "  The  wages 
of  sin  is  death;"  in  opposition,  or,  rather,  in 
contrast  with  "  eternal  life"  which  is  God's  free 
gift,  to  the  believer.  Here  one  is  just  as  long 
and  just  as  broad  as  the  other ;  for  one  is  a  de- 
liverance or  reprieve  from  the  other.  As  the 
reprieve  is  eternal,  the  death  from  which  it  de- 
livers is  eternal.  And  as  God  has  decided  that 
"  the  soul  that  sinneth  shall  die  ;  " — "  that  the 
wages  of  sin  is  death  ;  " — that  the  sinner  "  shall 
be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction ; — 
that  those  on  the  left  hand  of  Christ  in  the 
judgment  "  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment ;  " — we  ought  to  be  too  modest,  and  too 
diffident  of  our  own  judgment,  to  undertake  to 
say  that  God  threatens  us  for  our  sins  more 
than  we  deserve.  In  other  words,  we  ought  to 
be  careful  how  we  say  that  we  do  not  deserve 
everlasting  punishment.  But  here  is  another 
consideration  which  ought  to  have  influence  ; 
namely,  just  as  long  as  you  believe  and  feel 
that  you  are  not  deserving  eternal  punishment, 
you  will  treat  with  neglect  or  contempt  the 
offers  of  pardon  and  eternal  life  presented  in  the 
Gospel.  Those  offers  are  tendered  as  a  deliver- 


I    AM    A   UNIVERSALIST.  83 

ance  from  deserved  punishment.  If  one  does 
not  feel  that  he  deserves  punishment,  he  will 
not  ask  for  pardon.  This  was  the  case  with 
Governor  Dorr  of  Rhode  Island.  And  it  is  so 
with  every  sinner.  He  never  sincerely  asks 
God  to  pardon  his  sins,  unless  he  feels  that  he 
has  sinned,  and  deserves  punishment.  And  as 
pardon  is  not  granted  unless  it  is  asked  for, 
(Luke  xi.  9,  10,)  no  sinner  receives  pardon  un- 
less he  feels  his  ill-desert  enough  to  lead  him  to 
ask  pardon.  And  as  you  will  not  ask  for  par- 
don unless  you  feel  that  you  have  sinned,  and 
deserve  punishment,  of  course  you  will  never 
receive  it  till  you  thus  feel.  So  no  one  will 
cheerfully  ask,  or  joyfully  receive,  pardon  for  a 
greater  offence  than  he  feels  that  he  has  com- 
mitted. If  the  criminal  feels  that  his  offence 
deserves  only  tivo  years*  imprisonment,  he  will 
not  ask,  or  thankfully  receive,  pardon  for  an 
offence  which  deserves  thirty  years*  imprison- 
ment. And  as  the  gracious  offers  of  the  Gos- 
pel present  eternal  life^  or  eternal  salvation,  as 
a  PARDON  to  the  guilty  children  of  men  who 
will  humbly  ask  and  joyfully  receive  it,  you 
will  not  thankfully  accept  this  precious  gift  of 
God  unless  you  feel  that  your  damnation  would 
be  just.  For,  if  you  feel  that  you  deserve  only 


84  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

a  little  suffering,  or  only  a  limited  punish- 
ment, you  will  not  cheerfully  ask,  or  thank- 
fully accept  pardon  for  offences  which  deserve, 
and  against  which  God  threatens  ETERNAL 
damnation.  Instead  of  weighing  the  desert  of 
sin  by  your  own  partial  scales,  would  it  not  be 
wiser  and  safer  to  go  to  the  Bible,  and  form  your 
opinion  of  the  nature  and  desert  of  sin  from 
God's  threaten  ings  against  transgressors  ;  from 
the  effect  of  sin  on  the  angels  who  kept  not 
their  first  estate  ;  from  the  effects  sin  has  pro- 
duced in  this  world,  where  it  has  made  the 
whole  creation  groan  and  travail  in  pain  ;  and 
from  the  agonies  and  blood  of  the  dying  Son  of 
God  ?  Who,  that  contemplates  the  hateful  and 
debasing  and  ruinous  nature  of  sin,  and  its 
fearful  effects  in  God's  universe,  does  not  see 
that  it  is  an  abominable  thing,  which  good 
beings  cannot  but  loathe  and  abhor  ?  And 
who,  that  reflects  that  nothing  short  of  the 
obedience  and  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
could  render  it  consistent  for  God  to  pardon  sin, 
and  save  the  sinner  who  believeth,  can  doubt 
that  sin  is  a  tremendous  evil,  and  that  the 
sinner  deserves  a  tremendous  punishment? 

But  perhaps  you  are  ready  to  say,  "  I  think 
all  will  be  saved,  because  in  my  opinion  all 


I    AM   A   UNIVERSALIST,  85 

men  suffer  what  their  sins  deserve  in  this  life." 
Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  turn  to  the  xxi.  of  Job, 
and  to  the  Ixxiii.  Psalm,  and  read  them  care- 
fully. Can  you  think,  when  the  people  of  the 
old  world,  and  the  people  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  were  so  wicked  that  God  swept 
them  off  suddenly  for  their  sins,  that  they  were 
punished  in  this  world  as  much  as  they  de- 
served ;  and  that  Noah  and  Lot — those  only 
pious  persons— suffered  no  more  than  they  de- 
served ?  Can  you  think  that  the  pirate,  who 
has  murdered  a  hundred  innocent  persons,  and 
is  himself  killed  instantly,  in  the  act  of  mur- 
der, has  suffered  all  he  deserves?  Can  you 
think  that  the  Spanish  Inquisitors,  who  had 
spent  years  in  torturing  to  death  innocent  and 
pious  persons,  and  were  cut  off  in  the  midst  of 
their  crimes,  suffered  as  'much  as  they  deserved 
in  this  life,  and  that  their  innocent  and  pious 
victims  suffered  no  more  than  they  deserved^ 
All  observation  and  experience  deny  that  men 
are  dealt  with  here  according  to  their  deserts. 
Besides,  if  all  men  are  saved,  and  saved  on 
account  of  having  suffered  what  their  sins  de- 
serve, then  they  are  not  saved  by  grace, 
through  faith,  and  their  salvation  is  of  them- 
selves, and  not  the  gift  of  God.  What  grace 
8 


86  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

can  there  be  in  letting  a  man  out  of  prison 
after  he  has  suffered  what  the  law  demands  ? 
He  can  demand  deliverance  as  a  right.  So 
there  can  be  no  grace. in  saving  a  man  from 
sin  and  hell,  after  he  has  suffered  the  penalty 
of  the  law.  This  scheme  of  saving  men,  is  not 
the  Gospel  scheme.  The  Gospel  asserts  that 
salvation  is  all  of  grace — the  free  gift  of  God. 
This  new  scheme,  therefore,  (if  it  has  any 
Gospel  in  it,)  must  be  another  Gospel.  (Col.  i. 
6,8.) 

But  perhaps  you  are  of  those  who  think  that 
all  will  be  finally  saved,  in  consequence  of 
having  suffered  the  penalty  of  the  law,  though 
some  of  them  will  have  to  suffer  a  limited 
period  in  hell.  I  see  several  objections  to  this 
system.  1.  It  has  no  solid  foundation  in  the 
Bible.  There  is  not  one  text  rightly  interpret- 
ed, which  affords  any  countenance  to  this 
%eory.  And  the  Bible,  by  teaching  that  this 
life  is  the  only  state  of  trial,  is  utterly  opposed 
to  this  sentiment.  Abraham  assured  the  rich 
man  (Luke  xvi.)  that  he  had,  during  his  life- 
time, received  his  good  things,  and  that  there 
could  be  no  passing  from  hell  to  the  abode  of 
the  blessed.  Christ  said,  "  The  night  cometh 
when  no  man  can  work."  The  labourers  in 


•  I    AM    A    UNIVERSALIST.  87 

the  vineyard  continued  at  their  work  till  even- 
ing, when  they  were  called  forward  and  paid. 
In  the  future  state,  "  He  that  is  unjust  will  be 
unjust  still;  and  he  that  is  filthy  will  be  filthy 
still."  2.  The  idea,  that  men  pay  their  own 
debt  by  their  sufferings,  either  here  or  here- 
after, makes  their  salvation  a  matter  of  debt — 
something  to  which  they  are  entitled — and  not 
a  matter  of  unmerited,  free  grace.  If  any 
were  saved  by  their  sufferings,  they  would  not 
cry  "  Gsace,  grace,  to  it,"  from  the  foundation 
to  the  top  stone  thereof.  3.  This  system  has 
nothing  of  Christ  in  it.  If  men  can  pay  their 
own  debts,  they  need  no  substitute  to  pay  for 
them.  What  has  Christ  to  do  in  saving  men 
from  their  sins,  if  they  have  to  suffer  them- 
selves what  their  sins  deserve  ?  If  "  Christ  has 
suffered  for  our  sins,  the  JUST  for  the  unjust" 
(1  Peter,  iii.  18,)  then  how  is  it  that  men  must 
suffer  for  their  own  sins  ?  This  would  be 
giving  justice  double  pay.  And  that  system, 
which  holds  that  God  gave  his  Son  to  suffer 
for  our  sins,  and  that  God  will  punish  every 
'man  for  his  own  sins,  makes  God  infinitely 
unjust.  All  who  go  to  heaven  from  our  world, 
we  are  told  in  the  Bible,  will  ascribe  their 
salvation  wholly  to  Christ.  (Rev.  v.  9.)  "  And 


88  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

they  sung  a  new  song,  saying,  thou  art  worthy 
to  take  the  book,  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof: 
for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred,  and 
tongue,  and  people,  and  nation."  Now,  if  any 
had  redeemed  themselves  by  their  own  suffer- 
ings, they  could  not  join  in  singing  this  heavenly 
anthem. 

But  even  if  it  were  true  that  all  men  will 
finally  be  saved,  (which  we  have  seen  is  not 
the  case,)  would  it  be  likely  to  do  men  any  seri- 
ous injury  to  become  humble  and  consistent 
Christians  ?  Would  God,  or  other  holy  beings, 
be  likely  to  love  or  respect  them  any  the  less  ? 
Would  they  be  less  useful  in  Church  or  state? 
Would  they  be  less  likely  to  be  sober,  industri- 
ous citizens  ?  Would  they  pay  less  regard  to 
the  Sabbath,  or  be  less  likely  to  take  the  name  « 
of  God  in  vain  ?  Would  they  afford  less  com- 
fort to  their  relations  and  friends?  Would  they 
have  less  peace  of  mind,  or  be  likely  to  read 
their  Bible  or  pray  less  ?  Now  my  dear  reader, 
unless  you  see  something  important  to  be  gain- 
ed by  living  without  religion,  and  unless  you 
see  much  to  be  lost  by  becoming  a  sincere 
Christian,  I  beseech  you  to  cast  in  your  lot  with 
God's  people.  Come  to  the  determination  of 


I     AM    A    MORALIST.  89 

Joshua,  ft  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve 
the  Lord."  Multitudes,  after  having  sought 
long  and  earnestly  but  without  success  to  find 
happiness  and  peace  in  worldly  good,  have  at 
length  turned  their  feet  into  Wisdom's  ways, 
and  found  that  which  they  had  sought  in  vain 
elsewhere.  They  have  found  that  there  is  peace 
in  believing.  They  have  found  that  godliness 
is  profitable  to  all  things,  having  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come." 
Leaving  the  future  world,  therefore,  out  of  view, 
men  lose  nothing  valuable,  but  gain  much,  by 
becoming  Christians.  Let  me  entreat  you,  then, 
to  "  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness,"  to  "  strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate," ^to  "give  diligence  to  make  your 
calling  and  election  sure,"  and  you  will  be  a 
gainer,  whether  all  are  saved  or  not. 

"  Attend  the  offered  grace  to-day, 
Nor  lose  the  blessing  by  delay.'* 


SECTION  VI. 

The  Moralist's  religion  hinders  his  salvation. 

WHEN  the  sentiment  is  repeated,  that,  "  ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the 

8* 


90  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

kingdom  of  God,"  one  man  is  ready  to  say, 
"  My  religion  is  to  deal  honestly  and  justly  with 
all  mankind,  and  to  live  a  sober  and  moral  life. 
If  I  do  this,  I  trust  God  will  accept  of  me." 
To  such  an  one  I  would  reply :  as  to  honesty, 
sobriety  and  morality,  they  are  all  good  and  im- 
portant as  far  as  they  go,  and  without  them 
there  can  be  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  the 
heart  is  right  in  the  sight  of  God ;  but  in  order 
to  be  justified  by  morality,  or  the  works  which 
the  law  requires,  one  must  never  have  violated 
the  law  in  a  single  instance.  A  creature,  who 
has  never  deviated  in  the  slightest  degree  from 
the  demands  of  a  law,  is  entitled  to  justification 
by  that  law,  and  has  a  right  to  consider  him- 
self and  to  be  considered  by  others  as  just  or  in- 
nocent, according  to  the  decisions  of  that  law. 
Accordingly,  most  of  the  citizens  of  this  state 
consider  themselves  and  are  considered  by  oth- 
ers &sjust  or  justified,  when  their  conduct  is 
tried  by,  or  compared  with,  the  laws  of  this 
state.  It  is  on  this  ground  also,  that  the  angels, 
who  have  never  violated  the  law  of  God,  .are 
justified  by,  and  enjoy  the  protection  and  ap- 
probation of  the  divine  law.  They  are  entitled 
to  all  this.  It  is  something  which  they  can 
justly  claim,  in  consequence  of  their  undeviating 


I    AM    A   MORALIST.  91 

obedience  to  that  law.  But  when  a  creature 
has  once  violated  the  law,  he  has,  by  such  vio- 
lation, thrown  himself  out  from  under  its  pro- 
tection and  approbation,  and  rendered  himself 
justly  exposed  to  its  penalty.  In  the  eye  of  the 
law,  a  man  is  as  really  guilty,  and  as  truly  ex- 
posed to  punishment,  who  has  sinned  but  once, 
as  the  man  who  goes  on  in  a  series  of  trans- 
gressions. After  a  being  has  once  become  a 
sinner,  his  course  of  conduct,  whether  good  or 
evil,  cannot  change  his  relation  to  the  law.  He 
is  looked  upon,  turn  which  way  he  will,  as  a 
transgressor,  and  as  such  he  is  to  be  treated. 
His  after  obedience,  his  reformations  and  tears, 
and  entreaties,  cannot  undo  the  wrong  he  has 
done.  What  would  be  thought  of  the  man 
who  had  committed  murder,  if  he  should  take 
the  position,  that,  although  he  had  broken  the 
law  and  was  convicted  as  a  transgressor, 
yet  it  would  be  unjust  for  him  to  suffer  the  pen- 
alty of  his  crime,  because  he  had  been  an  obe- 
dient and  peaceable  citizen  ever  since  he  commit- 
ted the  murder,  and  he  designed  to  continue 
such  to  the  end  of  his  life  ?  Would  any  rea- 
sonable man  think  his  position  tenable  ?  If  an 
individual  has  violated  the  law,  that  is  enough. 
The  law  does  not  ask  the  criminal  what  he  is 


92  HAVE    ME   EXCUSED. 

now  doing,  or  what  he  is  about  to  do,  but  what 
have  you  done  ?  Have  you  sinned  ?  And  as 
all  men  have  sinned  against  the  law  of  God, 
they  all  now  stand  related  to  the  penalty  and 
not  to  the  precept  of  the  law.  God  does  not 
ask  men,  in  dealing  legally  with  them,  how 
many  times  or  in  what  ways  they  have  violat- 
ed his  law,  but  have  you  violated  it  at  all  ? 
HAVE  YOU  SINNED?  And  who  is  there  on  God's 
earth,  that  dare  say  that  he  has  never  sinned  ? 
never,  in  the  least  particular,  gone  contrary  to 
the  divine  will,  as  made  known  by  reason  or 
revelation  ?  And,  my  reader,  as  you  "  have 
sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God,"  as 
well  as  all  others,  you  are  convicted  as  a  trans- 
gressor. The  law,  which  you  have  violated, 
must  be  satisfied.  Heaven  and  earth  will  soon- 
er pass  away  than  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  law 
fail.  How  can  you  satisfy  the  law  ?  God  says, 
"  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in 
all  things  written  in  the  law,  to  do  them."  Do 
what  you  will,  turn  which  way  you  will,  the 
law  has  no  other  language  for  you  than  that  of 
curses.  The  law  pays  no  regard  to  the  sinner's 
tears,  and  sighs,  and  prayers,  and  works  of  law, 
and  resolutions,  and  promises,  and  reformations. 
The  apostle  Paul  uses  this  language :  "  It  is 


I    AM    A    MORALIST.  93 

evident  that  no  man  is  justified  by  the  law  in 
the  sight  of  God."  "  For  by  the  works  of  the 
law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified."  "  And  by  him 
(Christ)  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all 
things  from  which  ye  could  not  I) e  justified  by 
the  law  of  Moses" 

If  men  could  he  saved  for  their  good  works, 
their  honesty  and  morality,  their  strict  obe- 
dience to  the  divine  law,  the  world  has  gained 
nothing  by  the  obedience  and  death  of  Christ. 
For  salvation  was  possible  to  all  men  without 
an  atonement,  according  to  that  system ;  and 
it  is  only  possible  now  with  the  atonement. 
That  system  holds  that  the  amazing  sufferings 
of  Christ  were  unnecessary.  It  therefore,  in 
effect,  charges  God  with  infinite  cruelty  in 
bruising  his  own  well-beloved  Son.  If  honesty 
and  morality,  and  all  the  deeds  which  the  law 
demands,  could  justify  the  sinner,  then  there 
was  no  necessity  of  God's  setting  forth  his  Son 
"  to  be  a  propitiation  "  for  our  sins,  in  order 
"  to  declare,"  or  make  manifest,  "  his  righteous- 
ness," or  his  method  of  justifying  sinners,  "that 
he  might  be  just,  and  thejustifier  of  him  which 
believeth  in  Jesus."  That  system  of  belief, 
therefore,  which  undertakes  to  save  sinners  by 
the  deeds  of  the  law,  or  by  morality,  is  opposed 


94  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

to  both  reason  and  revelation.  The  method  by 
which  God  proposes  to  save  sinners,  is  "  by 
GRACE,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus"  But 
if  any  man  is  saved  by  his  obedience  to  the 
law,  or  by  his  morality  and  good  works,  his 
salvation  is  something  to  which  he  is  entitled, 
and  which  is  not  of  grace,  but  of  works.  If  he 
is  saved  in  that  way,  he  has  satisfied  the  de- 
mands of  the  law,  and  God  is  under  legal  obli- 
gations to  justify  and  save  him.  Such  a  per- 
son is  not  included  in  the  number  to  whom  St. 
Paul  says,  "  By  grace^  are  ye  saved"  through 
faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves — it  is  the  gift 
of  God."  You  see,  therefore,  that  the  system 
of  religion  by  which  the  moralist  proposes  to  be 
saved,  is  not  the  Gospel  system. 

Again,  some  people  who  may  be  placed  in 
the  general  class  with  moralists,  are  expecting 
heaven  because  they  are  not  very  wicked — not 
as  wicked,  in  their  own  estimation,  as  many 
others.  They  have  never  done  any  thing  very 
much  out  of  the  way,  and  they  have  done 
many  things  which  they  apprehend  are  good 
and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ;  and, 
besides  all  this,  they  are  doing  better  than  they 
used  to  do.  They  seem  to  think  it  would  be 
unjust,  and  cruel,  for  God  to  cast  them  off,  as 


I    AM    A    MORALIST,  95 

though  they  were  utterly  deficient,  as  to  a  pre- 
paration for  the  home  of  the  redeemed.  I 
would  advise  such  persons  to  compare  their 
morality,  and  their  sentiments,  and  their 
righteousness,  with  the  morality,  and  senti- 
ments, and  religion  of  the  Pharisees.  Can 
they  pretend  to  stricter  morality,  or  to  praying 
more,  or  to  being  more  punctilious  in  all  the 
forms  and  external  services  of  religion  than  the 
Pharisees  were  ?  And  yet  our  blessed  Saviour 
says,  "  Except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed 
the  righteousness  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven." Christ  said  to  Nicodemus,  one  of  the 
best  of  the  Pharisees,  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
again,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Ye  must  be  born  again."  When  the  jailer  at 
Philippi  felt  himself  to  be  a  lost  and  ruined 
sinner,  and  inquired,  what  he  should  do  to  be 
saved,  what  was  Paul's  answer  ?  Was  it,  you 
must  be  honest  and  moral  ?  You  must  com- 
mence a  reformation  ?  You  must  try  to  make 
yourself  better  ?  You  must  attend  to  religious 
duties  ?  If  you  persevere  in  these  things,  you 
shall  be  saved  ?  Paul  told  the  jailer  none  of 
these  things.  But  he  did  tell  him  just  what  he 
must  doj  and  what,  if  he  immediately  did  it, 


96  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

would  secure  his  salvation,  even  if  he  had  died 
the  next  moment.  Paul  told  him  to  do  what, 
when  done,  always  leads  to  obedience  of  heart 
and  life  to  the  will  of  God,  and  always  ends  in 
salvation.  Mark  his  simple,  plain,  and  easy 
answer  to  the  trembling  jailor,  "  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
This  was  beginning  at  the  right  end  of  the 
subject.  For  where  there  is  faith)  there  is  a 
fountain  which  will  send  forth  sweet  waters. 
"  Faith  works  by  love,  and  purifies  the  heart." 
Faith  leads  to  the  cultivation  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian graces,  and  to  the  practice  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian virtues.  Paul  says,  "  Ye  are  justified  by 
faith?  And  our  divine  Lord  has  said,  "He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved/' 
Every  system  of  religion,  which  does  not  com- 
mence with  faith  in  Christ  as  the  only  f6unda~ 
tion,  is  insufficient  for  the  wants  of  mankind — 
can  never  save  the  soul  of  a  sinful  being,  but 
will  at  last  be  like  the  spider's  web,  which  can- 
not sustain  the  one  who  holds  on  to  it.  Good 
works,  honesty  and  morality,  justice  and  so- 
briety, patience  and  moderation,  forbearance 
and  kindness,  are  virtues,  which  will  promote 
the  happiness  and  comfort  of  those  who  culti- 
vate them,  and  of  the  community  in  which 


I    AM    A    MORALIST.  97* 

they  are  cultivated.  It  is  the  interest  and  duty, 
therefore,  of  all  intelligent  beings,  to  practise 
these  moral  virtues.  But  these  things  are  to 
be  commended  and  practised,  not  as  a  religion 
which  will  of  itself  justify  a  sinner  in  God's 
sight,  but  as  something  which  is  right  and 
proper  in  itself,  whether  men  are  saved  or  not, 
and  independent  of  our  relation  to  the  future 
world.  Men  ought  all  to  obey  the  precepts  of 
the  moral  law,  and  thus  practise  all  the  virtues 
of  morality,  whatever  becomes  of  them  in  this 
world  or  the  next.  These  things  are  right,  but 
they  do  not  constitute  the  whole,  or  even  the 
first  and  most  essential  element  of  Gospel 
religion.  They  are  not  the  grounds  on  which 
God  can  consistently  save  a  sinner.  We 
would,  therefore,  say  to  moralists,  in  regard  to 
their  good  works,  "  These  things  ought  ye  to 
do,  but  not  to  leave  the  other,"  that  is,  faith  in 
Christ^  "  undone."  In  the  Christian  system, 
God  has  joined  faith  and  works  together.  A 
man  may  pretend  that  he  has  faith,  or  that  he 
is  a  Christian,  while  he  neglects  the  duties  of 
morality  and  charity  ;  but  St.  James  informs  us 
that  "  faith  without  works  " — that  is,  a  faith 
which  does  not  lead  its  possessor  to  perform 
good  works — "  is  dead  ;  "  is  good  for  nothing, 
9 


98  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

is  no  better  than  the  faith  of  devils,  is  not  the 
faith  which  results  in  salvation.  The  faith 
which  unites  the  soul  to  Christ,  leads  those  who 
have  it  to  imitate  Christ — to  possess  the  same 
self-denying  and  devoted  mind  which  was  in 
him,  and,  like  him,  ever  to  seek  to  do  good  to 
others.  Though  a  man  may  be  strictly  moral 
without  being  truly  pious,  yet  no  man  can  be 
truly  pious  without  being  habitually  moral. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  morality,  let 
me  make  one  other  remark.  I  have  sometimes 
found  persons  who  expected  to  be  saved  "  be- 
cause they  were  not  very  wicked,  and  did  not 
deserve  to  be  sent  to  hell,  and  because  they  had 
never,"  as  they  said,  "  injured  their  fellow- 
creatures  ;  "  while  some  of  them  were  notorious 
drunkards,  and  swearers,  and  Sabbath-break- 
ers, and  oppressors,  and  licentious  persons  ;  and 
others  of  them  gave  their  countenance  to 
theatres  and  balls,  and  the  circus,  and  trained 
their  children  to  attend  them,  or  even  attended 
themselves.  Any  one  who  can  believe  that 
God  will  save  men  for  such  morality  as  this, 
can  easily  believe  that  God  will  save  all  men 
without  regard  to  their  conduct  in  this  world. 
This  description  of  moralists  do,  in  effect,  place 
every  man's  inclination  as  the  law  which  he  is 


HOW    CAME    I    TO    BE    A    SINNER?         99 

to  obey  in  order  to  be  saved.  And  this  is  infi- 
delity of  the  grossest  kind.  It  is  opposed  to  the 
whole  Bible.  It  is  opposed  to  reason  and  com- 
mon sense.  Nothing  but  a  heart,  which  is  de- 
ceitful above  all  things,  and  fully  set  in  one  to 
do  evil,  could  ever  prompt  a  man  to  resort  to 
such  excuses  for  not  serving  God,  and  coming 
to  the  Gospel  Supper. 


SECTION  VII. 
A  cavil  about  original  sin  made  a  hinderance. 

SOME  people,  when  urged  to  repent  and  for- 
sake their  sins,  are  ready  to  inquire,  a  How 
came  I  to  be  a  sinner  ?  "  To  such  I  would  re- 
ply, that  it  is  not  of  so  much  importance  to  un- 
derstand how  you  became  a  sinner,  or  the 
nature  of  original  sin,  as  it  is  to  understand 
how  you  may  be  saved  from  your  sins.  It  is 
enough  for  your  present  purpose  to  know  and 
feel  that  you  are  a  sinner ,  because  you  yourself 
"  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God."  You  need  have  no  fear  that  God  will 
threaten  or  punish  you  more  than  your  own 
sins  deserve.  Your  concern,  therefore,  should 


100  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

be  to  ascertain  how  you  may  escape  the  pun- 
ishment which  is  due*to  you  as  a  transgressor 
of  GocTs  law.  While  you  are  making  no  ex- 
ertions to  be  delivered  from  the  power  and 
penalty  of  your  sins,  but  are  busying  yourself 
with  the  inquiry,  how  you  became  a  sinner, 
you  remind  us  of  a  man  perishing  with  cold. 
When  overtaken  by  the  woodman,  he  was 
sinking  info  death-slumbers,  benumbed  with 
frost,  and  the  vital  spark  just  ready  to  expire. 
"  Rouse  up,"  said  the  woodman,  "  you  are 
perishing  here  with  cold."  The  freezing  man 
draws  up  his  stiffened  eyelids,  and  gazing 
upon  his  benefactor,  exclaims,  "  How  came  I 
here  in  the  snow  ?  Who  brought  me  here  ?  " 
The  other  replies,  "  that  is  of  no  consequence 
to  you  now.  You  are  perishing,  and  unless 
you  soon  wake  up,  you  will  be  a  dead  man." 
"  But  no,"  says  the  dying  wretch,  "  I  must  know 
how  I  came  here  before  I  make  any  exertions 
to  gel  warm."  And  thus,  instead  of  attempting 
to  escape,  he  busies  himself  with  useless  in- 
quiries about  his  situation,  till  death  closes  the 
scene.  So,  while  God  is  proclaiming  in  your 
ears,  "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die  ;  " 
and  calling  on  you  to  repent,  and  saying, 
;  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  likewise  perish," 


I    AM    TOO    YOUNG.  101 

is  it  not  a  dictate  of  prudence  in  you  to  inquire, 
"  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  "  How  can  I 
escape  the  damnation  of  hell  ?  "  "  Can  God's 
law  be  honoured,  and  the  sinner  be  saved  ?  " 
"  Can  God  be  true  to  his  word,  and  just  to  the 
universe,  and  the  sinner  not  die  ? "  "  Can 
justice  be  satisfied,  and  the  sinner  go  unpun- 
ished ?  "  These  are  questions  which  concern 
us  far  more  than  the  one  how  we  became  sin- 
ners. And  we  see  in  the  Bible  that,  through 
Christ,  God  can  "  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of 
him  which  belie veth  in  Jesus."  And  now,  be- 
fore the  slumber  of  spiritual  death  prove  fatal 
to  your  soul,  let  me  exhort  you  in  the  lan- 
guage of  inspiration,  "  Awake,  thou  that  sleep- 
est,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall 
give  thee  light." 


SECTION  VIII. 
Too  young  to  be  a  good  Christian. 

HERE  is  a  child.     When  he  is  urged-  to  seek 

the  Lord,  and  to  make  religion  his  first  and 

great  concern,  he  replies,  "  I  am  so  young,  I 

fear  that  I  should  not  hold  out."    I  would  ask 

9* 


102  HAVE   ME    EXCUSED. 

such  an  one,  why  do  you  fear  that  you  should 
not  hold  out  ?  Is  it  because  you  have  heard 
others  say  that  children  and  youth,  who  become 
hopefully  pious,  are  not  so  likely  to  persevere, 
as  older  persons  ?  Or,  is  it  because  you  have 
seen  young  people,  who  profess  religion,  more 
irregular  in  their  conduct  and  conversation 
than  others  ?  Now,  taking  into  consideration 
the  great  cheerfulness,  and  the  rapid  flow  of 
animal  spirits,  of  youth  and  children,  the 
temptations  peculiar  to  their  age,  the  great  and 
criminal  negligence  of  older  and  more  expe- 
rienced Christians,  to  watch  over,  and  caution, 
and  admonish  them ;  and  the  large  number  of 
this  description  who  profess  a  hope  in  Christ,  it 
is  wonderful  that  no  more  fall  away  than  do. 
Yea,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  a  greater  pro- 
portion of  converts  of  this  young  and  volatile 
age  prove  to  have  no  religion,  than  of  those 
who  are  apparently  converted  in  more  advan- 
ced life.  And  here  let  me  remark,  that  those 
parents  assume  a  fearful  responsibility  who 
keep  back  their  children  from  joining  the  visible 
Church,  (when  they  give  satisfactory  evidence 
of  piety,)  merely  because  the  children  are  young. 
In  many  cases  where  this  has  been  done,  the 
little  lambs,  who  were  bleating  for  admittance 


I    AM    TOO    YOUNG.  103 

among  the  sheep  in  Christ's  fold,  have  been 
discouraged  and  dejected,  and  finally  scattered 
into  the  wilderness,  if  not  destroyed,  by  him 
who  "  walketh  about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour."  God  can  as  well  con- 
vert a  child  in  our  day,  as  he  could  Samuel 
and  Josiah  of  old.  And  God  can  as  readily 
convert  a  child  as  a  man  ;  and  his  grace  is  as 
sufficient  to  keep  that  child  from  apostacy  and 
ruin,  as  it  is  to  uphold  the  person  of  mature 
age.  It  is  my  deliberate  opinion,  formed  after 
thirty  years'  experience  in  the  Church,  and 
after  having  laboured  more  or  less  in  some 
forty  revivals,  that  children  under  fifteen  are  as 
susceptible  of  rational  conviction,  and  genuine 
conversion,  as  older  persons  ;  and  that  ministers 
and  parents,  and  Sabbath-school  teachers,  are 
criminal  for  their  practical  scepticism  on  this 
subject. 

But  if  other  young  people  have  dishonoured 
religion  by  their  irregularity  or  apostacy,  you 
are  under  no  necessity  of  doing  it.  There  are 
many  youth,  and  even  children,  that  hold  on 
their  way  in  the  Lord's  service,  and  are  orna- 
ments to  the  Church.  These  are  the  persons 
on  whom  you  should  look  as  examples  worthy 
of  imitation.  If  these  can,  and  do  continue  to 


104  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

serve  and  honour  Christ,  you  can,  and  ought 
to  do  so  too. 

Do  you  find  any  thing  in  the  Bible  which 
discourages  young  people,  or  children,  from 
commencing  the  service  of  God  in  the  morning 
of  life?  Instead  of  finding  discouragement 
for  the  young,  in  that  sacred  book,  do  you 
not  there  find  even  stronger  inducements  for 
youth  to  enter  the  Lord's  vineyard,  than  for 
those  of  any  other  age  ?  Do  you  not  hear  the 
voice  of  wisdom,  coming  forth  from  the  inspired 
volume,  and  saying,  "  Remember  now  thy 
Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth  7  "  "  Doth 
not  wisdom  cry  "  in  your  ear,  and  are  not  these 
her  cheering  words,  "  I  love  them  that  love  me, 
and  they  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me  ?  " 
And  does  not  our  blessed  Saviour  rebuke  his 
disciples  for  discouraging  children  from  coming 
to  him;  and  does  he*  not  say,  "Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  "  Here 
are  encouragements  for  the  young,  which  are 
not  held  out  to  those  of  any  other  age. 

Again,  if  you  wish  to  do  all  the  good  you 
can  in  the  world,  you  ought  to  put  yourselves 
in  the  way  of  doing  good  as  early  as  possible. 
Life  is  a  day,  and  one  hour  after  another  of  this 


t 
I    AM    TOO   YOUN,,  105 

II       /  fr  <*,  '''***   ^ 

day  is  rapidly  passing  beyond  your  reach. 
Soon  comes  the  third  hour,  or  the  middle  of  the 
forenoon ;  soon  after  that  the  sixth  hour,  or  -  _ 
noon ;  then  it  is  but  a  short  period  to  the  ninth 
hour,  or  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  ;  and,  be- 
fore most  people  are  ready  for  it,  comes  the 
eleventh^  or  closing  hour  of  the  day.  Every 
hour  is  precious,  and  should  see  something  ac- 
complished for  our  heavenly  Father.  We 
ought  always  to  bear  in  mind,  that  we  were 
created  "to  glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  for 
ever."  If,  therefore,  we  would  answer  the  end 
of  our  creation,  we  should  begin  to  glorify  God 
in  the  morning  of  our  existence.  No  time 
should  be  wasted  in  the  vanities  of  childhood 
and  youth.  Life  is  too  short  to  allow  a  single 
hour  to  be  lost.  You  cannot  glorify  God,  or 
please  him,  till  you  give  him  your  heart. 
Hence  he  says  to  you,  "  My  son,  give  me  thy 
heart."  To  give  your  heart  to  God,  is  to  love 
him  with  all  your  heart.  This  is  the  begin- 
ning of  true  religion.  If  you  love  God,  you, 
will  seek  to  keep  his  commandments.  You 
will  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  your 
Saviour.  You  will  forsake  your  sins.  You 
will  pray,  and  keep  the  Sabbath,  and  obey  ^ 
your  parents,  and  attend  meeting,  and  read  the 


106  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

Bible,  and  seek  to  perform  all  Christian  duties. 
If  you  become  a  Christian  while  young,  you 
will  have  the  longer  time  in  which  to  do  good ; 
and,  of  course,  you  can  do  far  more  good  by 
entering  the  Lord's  vineyard  in  the  morning, 
and  labouring  all  day  in  his  service,  than  you 
could,  if  you  put  off  entering  the  vineyard  till 
middle  life.  A  desire,  therefore,  to  do  as  much 
good  as  possible  for  your  heavenly  Father, 
should  lead  you  to  devote  yourself  to  his  service 
without  any  delay. 

•  But  again,  reflect,  that  though  you  may  think 
yourself  too  young  to  be  a  Christian,  you  are 
not  too  young  to  die  ;  and,  if  you  die  in  your 
sins,  you  are  not  too  young  to  be  cast  into  hell. 
Children  and  youth  die  as  well  as  others.  And 
they  are  sinners  as  well  as  others.  And  they 
cannot  be  saved  without  a  new  heart,  any  more 
than  others.  And  now,  is  it  wise,  is  it  safe,  to 
put  off  giving  your  heart  to  God  till  you  are 
older  ?  Will  God  be  pleased  with  your  putting 
off?  Would  you  dare  to  kneel  down  before 
God  and  say,  "  O  Lord,  I  am  too  young  to  love 
and  serve  thee.  I  want  the  privilege  of  living 
in  a  sinful  state,  and  of  disobeying  thee  a  few 
years  longer,  before  I  can  think  of  doing  as  thou 
requirest.  I  fear  that  if  I  should  begin  to  build 


I    AM    TOO    YOUNG.  107 

while  so  young,  I  should  not  be  able  to  finish. 
I  pray  thee,  therefore,  go  thy  way  for  this  time, 
but  when  I  am  older,  and  find  a  convenient 
season,  I  will  call  for  thee  ?"  You  would  shud- 
der to  offer  this  prayer  in  so  many  words ,  but 
you  do,  in  effect,  offer  it,  every  day  you  neglect 
to  become  a  Christian. 

Finally,  let  me  tell  you  that  the  wish,  which 
you  now  have,  to  put  off  beginning  to  serve 
God,  if  you  indulge  it,  will  constantly  increase, 
and  sear  your  conscience,  and  will  prevent  the 
preached  Gospel,  and  other  means  of  grace,  doing 
you  any  good,  and  will  discourage  Christians  in 
their  labours  and  prayers  for  your  salvation, 
and  will  provoke  God  to  give  you  up  to  the  in- 
clinations of  an  evil  heart,  and  thus  will  prove 
your  eternal  ruin.  God  has  plainly  said,  "  My 
Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  man."  Many 
have  doubtless  been  given  up  of  God,  when 
young.  Take  heed,  therefore,  my  young  friend, 
lest  this  be  the  case  with  you,  and  you  mourn 
at  the  last,  saying,  "  how  have  I  hated  instruc- 
tion, and  my  heart  despised  reproof!"  Will 
you  not,  from  this  time,  cry  unto  God,  "  My 
Father  thou  art  the  Guide  of  my  youth  ?" 


108  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED, 

SECTION  IX. 
Religion  would  make  me  less  happy. 

Some  people,  when  invited  to  become  Chris- 
tians, are  ready  to  say,  "  I  fear  religion  would 
destroy  or  greatly  diminish  my  happiness."  Let 
me  ask  such  an  one,  Are  you  now  happy? 
Does  your  mind  enjoy  peace  and  quietness 
when  you  suffer  yourself  to  think  of  (hath, 
judgment,  and  eternity  ?  After  all  your  appa- 
rent cheerfulness  and  gayety,  is  there  not  a 
canker  gnawing  your  soul,  and  filling  you  with 
anguish?  If  you  think  that  religion  would 
make  you  unhappy,  you  have  an  erroneous 
idea  of  it.  It  is  the  want  of  religion  that  makes 
men  miserable.  The  soul  without  religion,  is 
like  a  ship  on  the  tempestuous  ocean  without 
helm  or  anchor.  It  is  driven  about,  the  sport 
of  every  wind  and  every  wave.  Are  you  the 
most  happy  when  you  go  the  farthest  from  what 
religion  requires  ?  Does  it  make  you  happy  to 
get  angry,  or  swear,  or  lie,  or  break  the  Sab- 
bath, or  get  intoxicated,  or  disobey  your  parents, 
or  cheat,  or  do  anything  which  you  know  is 
wrong?  Instead  of  making  you  happy,  these 
things  make  you  miserable  in  proportion  as  you 


I    WANT   TO    BE    HAPPY.  109 

indulge  in  them.  Well,  religion  calls  on  you 
to  break  off  all  these,  and  cease  to  do  evil.  Do 
you  not  feel  the  least  unhappy  when  you  cul- 
tivate "  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  and  temper- 
ance," or  when  you  come  the  nearest  to  these? 
These  are  what  religion  enjoins,  and  what  go 
to  make  up  the  Christian  character.  To  cease 
to  do  evil,  and  learn  to  do  well,  is  religion, 
And  can  you  think  that  this  would  make  you 
less  happy  than  you  now  are  ?  Do  you  not 
find  in  your  own  experience,  that  the  way  of 
transgressors  is  hard  ?  that  "  there  is  no  peace 
to  the  wicked?"  You  now  labour,  and  are 
heavy  laden  with  fear  and  anxiety ;  but  if  you 
will  come  to  Christ,  he  will  relieve  you  of  your 
burden,  and  give  rest  to  your  soul.  If  you  "  will 
run  the  way  of  God's  commandments,"  you 
will  find  peace  and  pleasantness.  David  says, 
from  experience,  "  Great  peace  have  they  who 
love  thy  law,"  Our  blessed  Saviour  says  to 
his  followers,  "  My  peace  I  give  unto  you.77 
Faithful  Christians  enjoy  the  "  peace  of  God, 
which  passeth  all  understanding."  The  apostle 
Paul  says  to  Christians,  "  Rejoice  in  the  Lord 
always,  and  again  I  say,  rejoice."  Thousands 
and  millions  have  turned  from  the  ways  of  sin 
10 


110  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

to  the  way  of  holiness,  in  time  past,  and  they 
all  unite  in  this  testimony,  that  they  have  found 
far  more  happiness  in  serving  God,  than  they 
ever  did  in  the  pleasures  of  sin.  These  were 
persons  of  all  ranks  in  society — the  rich,  the 
poor,  the  high,  the  low,  the  master,  the  slave, 
the  young,  the  old,  the  married  and  the  unmar- 
ried— but  they  meet  together  in  religion,  and 
unitedly  assert  that  wisdom's  "  ways  are  ways 
of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace." 
Many  of  these  were  persons  who  had  the  very 
best  opportunity  to  find  happiness  in  worldly 
things,  if  there  was  any  there  to  be  found.  But 
they  all  testify  that  they  never  knew  anything 
about  rational,  substantial  happiness,  till  they 
became  Christians.  Now,  if  you  have  not  tried 
religion,  you  are  not  as  well  qualified  to  judge 
of  its  duties  and  its  pleasures,  as  those  who  have 
tried  it.  And  as  all  who  have  tried  the  plea- 
sures of  the  world  and  the  pleasures  of  religion, 
are  agreed  in  their  testimony  that  the  service  of 
God  affords  more  happiness,  even  in  this  life, 
you  are  bound  to  believe  them,  or  try  and  see  * 
for  yourself. 

But  whether  "  godliness  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  (having  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now 
ts,")or  not,  one  thing  is  certain,  men  are  under 


I    WANT    TO    BE    HAPPY.  Ill 

infinite  obligations  to  their  Creator,  Preserver, 
and  Benefactor.  To  fear  God,  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments, is  the  least  that  they  ought  all  to  do, 
towards  cancelling  these  obligations.  Every 
person  ought  immediately  to  devote  himself  and 
all  he  has  to  God,  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  his 
service.  And  this  they  ought  to  do,  even  if  it  ex- 
posed them  to  the  severest  persecutions,  and  to 
death.  Thousands  have  done  it,  when  they 
knew  that  it  would  expose  them  to  the  loss  of 
all  things  dear  on  earth,  and  have  looked  for 
their  reward  beyond  the  grave.  And  they  acted 
wisely  in  doing  it ;  for  what  is  a  man  profited, 
if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own 
soul  ?  or  what  will  he  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul  ?"  And  now,  my  dear  reader,  God  says  to 
you,  "  Son,  go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard." 
Will  you  obey  God,  and  immediatey  enter  his 
service  ?  or  will  you  deliberately  disobey  him, 
and  risk  the  consequences  ?  Answer  it  to  your 
own  conscience,  in  view  of  the  coming  judgment. 


112  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

r 

SECTION  X. 

The  fear  of  'man  is  a  snare. 

Another,  when  urged  to  become  religious,  is 
troubled  by  this  thought,  "  What  will  my  friends 
and  associates  think  of  me,  if  I  become  a  Chris- 
tian?'7 I  would  ask  such,  What  will  GOD  think 
of  you,  if  you  do  not  become  a  Christian?  What 
does  he  think  of  you  now,  for  having  so  long 
neglected  to  love  and  serve  him?  Ought  you  not 
to  have  a  greater  dread  of  God's  displeasure,  than 
of  the  displeasure  of  your  friends  ?  But  would 
you  be  willing  now  to  serve  God,  if  your  friends 
would  serve  him  too  ?  Are  you  quite  sure  of  it  ? 
Have  you  told  them  so  ?  Have  you  told  them 
that  the  only  thing  which  prevents  you  from  be- 
ing a  Christian,  is  the  dread  of  leaving  their  soci- 
ety, and  a  fear  of  their  remarks  about  you,  if  you 
should  become  serious  ?  If  you  have  not  can- 
didly conversed  with  them  on  this  subject,  how 
do  you  know  but  they  feel  just  as  you  do  about 
it  ?  Should  you  tell  them  your  feelings,  and  in- 
vite them  to  go  with  you  in  serving  the  Lord, 
it  is  more  than  possible  that  they  would  accept 
your  invitation. 


I  FEAR  THE  SPEECH  OF  PEOPLE.   113 

In  a  village  in  the  State  of  New  York,  an 
only  son  was  growing  deaf.  His  father  was 
so  much  troubled  ^about  it,  that  it  kept  him 
awake  nights.  One  night,  while  he  was  think- 
ing of  the  sad  prospects  of  his  darling  boy,  and 
of  the  impossibility  of  receiving  help  from  any 
human  arm,  he  undertook  to  ask  help  from 
God.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  with  his  prayer 
in  behalf  of  his  son,  when  his  mind  was  over- 
whelmed with  a  sense  of  the  inconsistency  of 
praying  for  his  child,  before  he  had  first  prayed 
for  himself.  He  was  immediately  filled  with 
deep  distress,  in  view  of  his  situation  as  a  lost 
sinner.  His  anxiety  was  so  great,  that  he  rolled 
on  his  bed,  and  sighed  so  loud  that  he  awoke 
his  wife.  She  inquired  the  cause  of  his  uneasi- 
ness, and  asked  him  if  he  was  sick.  He  said 
he  was  not  sick,  and  then  tried  to  compose  his 
feelings  so  as  to  lie  still,  and,  if  possible,  fall 
asleep.  But  after  a  few  minutes  he  turned  and 
sighed  again.  His  wife  again  asked  what  was 
the  matter.  He  said,  "Not  much  of  anything." 
She  then  began  to  suspect  the  occasion  of  his 
uneasiness,  and  said  to  him,  "  Are  you  displeas- 
ed and  unhappy,  because  you  fear  that  I  think 
of  becoming  a  Christian?"  "Why,  do  you 
think  of  it?"  said  he.  "Yes,"  was  her  reply. 
10* 


114  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

"Then  I  will  too?  said  he,  "  but  I  hated  to  go 
alone."  From  that  time  their  minds  were  fally 
determined  to  serve  God.  Not  long  after  this, 
they  came  forward  together,  and  avouched  the 
Lord  Jehovah  to  be  their  God,  and  united  with 
the  visible  Church.  In  like  manner,  should 
you,  my  dear  reader,  manifest  your  determina- 
tion to  be  on  the  Lord's  side,  it  would  have  a 
tendency  to  lead  your  friends  and  acquaintan- 
ces to  do  the  same.  But  let  that  be  as  it  will, 
you  are  to  give  account  of  yourself  to  God. 
God  does  not  say,  "  You  must  love  and  serve 
me,  if  others  do,"  You  ought  to  obey  him,  if 
you  are  the  only  one  in  the  universe  who  does 
it.  The  thoughts  and  remarks  of  others,  will 
not  excuse  you  for  neglecting  to  obey  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Is  it  wise  for  you  to  be  influenced 
by  your  friends  to  your  eternal  ruin?  Is  it 
wise  to  disobey  God  because  others  do  ?  "  Go 
not  with  the  multitude  to  do  evil."  As  it  re- 
gards the  sneers  of  your  ungodly  associates, 
care  nothing  for  them.  Our  Saviour  and  Judge 
says,  "  He  that  is  ashamed  of  me  before  men, 
of  him  will  I  be  ashamed  before  my  Father  and 
the  holy  angels."  "  Fear  not  them  that  kill  the 
body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul ;  but  fear 
him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body 


PROFESSORS  ARE  SO  INCONSISTENT.     115 

in  hell."  Do  not  lose  your  soul,  because  others 
are  determined  to  go  on  in  sin  and  risk  the  con- 
sequences. You  must  stand  or  fall  for  your- 
self, and  it  is  wise,  therefore,  for  you  to  foresee 
the  evil,  and  hide  yourself \  if  the  simple  do  pass 
on,  and  are  punished. 


SECTION  XI. 
Inconsistent  professors  are  a  stumbling-block. 

ANOTHER,  when  invited  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian, is  ready  to  reply,  "  I  do  not  see  that  pro- 
fessors of  religion  live  any  better  than  other 
people,"  To  such  I  would  say,  it  is  a  matter 
of  deep  regret  that  some,  who  bear  the  Chris- 
tian name,  give  occasion  to  think  that  they  are 
no  better  than  the  world.  Our  Saviour  tells  us 
of  some  of  this  kind  of  professors,  who  would 
say  to  him  in  the  judgment,  "  Lord,  Lord,  open 
unto  us ;  we  have  eaten  and  drunk  in  thy  pre- 
sence, and  thou  has  taught  in  our  streets.  But 
he  shall  say,  I  tell  you,  I  know  you  not  whence 
ye  are ;  depart  from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  ini- 
quity." Professing  religion  is  one  thing,  and 
being  truly  pious,  is  another,  and  sometimes 


116  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

quite  a  different  thing.  None  but  those,  who 
show  their  faith  by  their  works,  have  a  right 
to  expect  heaven.  The  hope  of  the  hypocrite 
shall  perish — shall  be  as  the  spider's  web — in 
the  giving  up  of  the  ghost — in  a  dying  hour. 
Unconverted  persons  should  be  careful,  there- 
fore, not  to  form  their  ideas  of  religion  from  the 
conduct  of  unworthy,  or  ungodly  professors. 
You  have  a  Bible.  That  teaches  you  what 
true  religion  is,  and  what  it  leads  those,  who 
truly  possess  it,  to  do.  You  need  not  be  misled 
by  inconsistent  professors.  If  others  are  wrong 
in  heart  and  life,  you  need  not  be.  The  Bible 
teaches  you  what  you  must  do  to  be  saved ;  and 
if  you  follow  its  directions,  the  misconduct  of 
others  need  not  injure  you.  If  many,  or  even 
all  the  professors  of  religion  with  whom  you  are 
acquainted,  are  hypocrites,  or  self-deceived  per- 
sons, it  will  not  benefit  you.  Every  one  is  to 
stand  or  fall  for  himself.  God  will  not  accept 
others'  inconsistencies  as  an  excuse  for  our  neg- 
lect of  duty.  Our  Saviour  may  with  propriety 
address  us,  with  reference  to  the  irregularities 
of  others,  as  he§did  Peter,  when  he  made  an 
inquiry  respecting  John,  "  What  is  that  to  thee  ? 
follow  thou  me."  Would  it  be  likely  to  make 
your  hell  more  tolerable,  to  find  yourself  in  the 


PROFESSORS  ARE  SO  INCONSISTENT.    117 

midst  of  hypocrites?  Well,  if  you  continue 
without  religion  a  little  longer,  you  will  be 
"where  are  hypocrites  and  unbelievers."  All 
ungodly  persons,  whether  in  the  visible  Church 
or  out  of  it,  will  go  to  the  same  place.  I  be- 
seech you  not  to  let  vile  hypocrites  cheat  you 
out  of  heaven.  Take  heed  lest  you  constrain 
the  Lord  to  make  you  a  companion  of  abomi- 
nable hypocrites  forever. 

But  we  may  be  too  uncharitable,  in  passing 
judgment  upon  our  neighbours.  Our  blessed 
Saviour  intimates  that  we  are  more  ready  to 
see  the  faults  of  others,  than  we  are  our  own. 
He  says,  "  Why  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that 
is  in  thy  brother's  eye,  but  perceivest  not  the 
beam  that  is  in  thine  own  eye  ?  Thou  hypo- 
crite, first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  «y e, 
and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  pull  out  the 
mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye."  We  may  be 
keener  sighted  in  seeing  the  faults,  than  we 
are  in  seeing  the  virtues  of  Christians.  One 
of  the  ancient  prophets  asserted  that  the  wicked 
"  eat  up  the  sins  of  God's  people  as  they  eat 
bread."  What  the  wicked  loved  to  do  then, 
they  love  to  do  now.  I  have  sometimes  heard 
wicked  men  talk  as  if  they  thought  Christians 
were  incapable  of  a  good  action — yea,  as  if,  in 


118  HAVE    ME   EXCUSED. 

their  estimation,  Christians  were  much  worse 
than  other  men.  The  truth  is,  that  if  the  un- 
godly would  take  the  Saviours  advice,  and 
first  cast  out  the  beam  from  their  own  eye,  they 
would  have  more  charity  for  others. 

A  mistake,  into  which  some  men  run  on  this 
subject,  is,  they  seem  to  have  the  impression 
that  those  who  profess  religion,  profess  to  be 
perfectly  holy.  Because  Christians  are  called 
saints,  or  holy  persons,  it  is  supposed  that  all 
true  Christians  are  without  sin,  or  perfectly 
sanctified.  As  before  regeneration  the  man  is 
dead  in  sin — is  wholly  sinful — so  after  this 
change  it  is  inferred  that  he  is  without  sin. 
But  the  truth  is,  intelligent  Christians  do  not 
pretend  to  be  perfectly  holy.  They  believe  that 
"  no  mere  man,  since  the  fall,  is  morally  able 
to  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  but  doth 
daily  break  them  in  thought,  word,  and  deed." 
Even  the  best  of  God's  people  find  that  when 
they  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  them 
— that  they  are  but  partially  sanctified.  But 
though  Christians  often  sin,  and  sometimes  sin 
grievously  and  scandalously,  yet  they  do  not 
love  sin,  but  hate  it.  What  they  do,  they  al- 
low not.  And  what  they  hate,  that  they  do. 
So  then,  it  is  not  they — their  regenerated  na- 


PROFESSORS  ARE  SO  INCONSISTENT.     119 

ture — that  do  it,  but  sin  that  dwelleth  in  them. 
"  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit,  and  the 
spirit  against  the  flesh,  and  these  are  contrary 
the  one  to  the  other."  Could  you  follow  the 
Christian  into  his  closet,  after  you  have  seen 
him  give  way  to  an  unholy  temper,  or  to  an 
idle  and  foolish  word,  or  to  an  improper  action, 
you  would  witness  tears  of  godly  sorrow  flow- 
ing down  his  cheeks,  as  he  confesses  his  sins 
before  God  and  repents  of  them.  The  ungodly 
witnessed  Peter's  denial  of  Christ,  and  his  curs- 
ing and  swearing,  but  they  were  not  with  him 
when  he  went  out  and  wept  bitterly.  Thus 
you  may  witness  the  faults  of  Christians,  and 
may  conclude  that  they  feel  no  more  penitence 
for  sin,  or  hatred  of  it,  than  others  do.  But 
could  you  see  them  when  they  are  alone,  weep- 
ing and  mourning  over  their  sins  and  short- 
comings, you  might  think  otherwise.  All  true 
Christians  hate  those  very  sinful  words  and 
actions,  which  you  may  think  they  allow  them- 
selves to  do  and  say.  When  they  discover  in 
their  hearts  a  propensity  to  evil,  or  when  that 
propensity  has  betrayed  them  into  sin,  they 
sincerely  abhor  themselves,  and  repent  in  dust 
and  ashes.  It  is  very  desirable  that  all  who 
profess  Godliness,  should  honour  their  profes- 


120  HAVE   ME   EXCUSED* 

sion,  and  thus  recommend,  by  example  as  well 
as  precept,  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  But 
as  there  are  many  who  bear  the  Christian  name, 
that  will  doubtless  continue  to  disgrace  their 
calling,  would  it  not  be  well  for  you  to  become 
a  decided  and  consistent  disciple  of  our  blessed 
Saviour,  that  your  influence  may  help  correct 
the  irregularities  of  the  unstable  and  disorderly » 
This  is  evidently  the  wisest  and  safest  course 
for  you.  Will  you  not  then  come  to  the  deci- 
sion of  Joshua,  "  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we 
will  serve  the  Lord." 


SECTION  XII. 
No  notion  of  being-  scared  into  religion. 

As  the  minister  attempts  to  persuade  men  by 
means  of  the  terror  of  the  Lord,  one  starts  up 
and  says  :  "  I  have  no  idea  of  being  scared  to 
heaven."  To  such  I  would  say,  No  one  ex- 
pects to  scare  you  to  heaven.  If  it  were  possi- 
ble to  frighten  people  into  heaven  as  timid  sheep 
are  frightened  into  a  strange  fold,  they  would 
not  willingly  remain  there.  But  no  person  can 
be  frightened  into  religion,  or  into  heaven.  None 


I    WON'T    BE    FRIGHTENED.  121 

can  be  induced  to  go  towards  heaven,  unless 
he  loves  God,  and  holiness,  and  religious  duties. 
Probably  the  reason  why  God  preaches  so  much 
terror  to  the  wicked  is,  "  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts."  There  is  such  a  fatal  death-slumber 
fallen  upon  men,  that  they  will  not  be  aroused 
but  by  the  trumpet  and  thunders  of  Mount 
Sinai.  The  object  of  preaching  "  the  terror 
of  the  Lord,"  and  of  warning  men  to  "flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come,"  is  to  "  save  them  through 
FEAR,  pulling  them  out  of  the  fire."  Unless  the 
man  sleeping  in  a  burning  house  can  be  awak- 
ened, he  must  perish.  And  if  whispering  in 
his  ear,  or  talking  moderately  to  him,  does  not 
arouse  him,  is  it  better  to  let  him  be  consumed, 
than  to  try  to  awaken  him  by  hallooing,  "fire, 
FIRE,"  even  if  it  is  liable  to  give  him  a  tempo- 
rary fright?  Our  object,  in  sounding  an  alarm 
in  his  ear,  is  not  to  injure  the  man  by  frighten- 
ing him,  but  to  lead  him  to  see  his  danger  that  he 
may  avoid  death.  So  when  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  informs  men  that  it  is  better  to  part  with 
a  right  eye,  or  a  right  hand,  or  a  right  foot, 
which  was  likely  to  occasion  their  destruction, 
than  to  be  cast  into  hell,  where  their  worm 
dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched  ;  and 
when  he  so  vividly  depicts  the  sad  and  hopeless 
11 


122  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

condition  of  the  rich  man  "  in  hell,  lifting  up  his 
eyes,  being  in  torment,"  crying,  "  I  am  torment- 
ed in  this  flame  ;"  and  when  he  so  pathetically 
inquires  of  his  impenitent,  self-conceited  hearers, 
"  how  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell  ?" 
and  when  he  says  that  the  hour  is  coming  when 
"  all  that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  his  voice 
and  shall  come  forth,  they  that  have  done  good, 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have 
done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation  ;" 
and  when  he  asserts  that  He  "  shall  come  in 
the  glory  of  his  Father  with  the  holy  angels," 
and  assemble  all  nations  at  his  bar,  and  receive 
the  righteous  into  everlasting  life,  and  send 
away  the  wicked  "  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment ;"  in  all  these  and  similar  representations, 
Christ's  object  doubtless  was  to  arouse  attention, 
and,  if  possible,  to  lead  men  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come,  and  secure  the  salvation  of  their 
souls.  Though  the  Lord  may  not  scare  men 
into  religion,  or  into  heaven,  yet  he  may  pre- 
sent to  their  minds  motives,  which  ought  to 
-make  them  fear  and  quake,  while  they  are  liv- 
ing in  disobedience  to  his  commands.  Thus 
said  the  Lord :  "  O,  wicked  man,  thou  shalt 
surely  die.  He  that,  being  often  reproved,  hard- 
eneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  destroyed, 


1    WON'T    BE    FRIGHTENED.  123 

and  that  without  remedy.  Their  foot  shall 
slide  in  due  time.  Surely  thou  didst  set  them 
in  slippery  places  ;  thou  castedst  them  down 
into  destruction.  When  they  cry,  <  Peace  and 
Safety/  then  sudden  destruction  cometh  upon, 
them.  Because  there  is  wrath,  beware,  lest  he 
take  thee  away  with  his  stroke ;  then,  a  great 
ransom  cannot  deliver  thee." 

There  are  multitudes,  whom  the  goodness  of 
God  does  not  lead  to  repentance ;  and  must 
God  employ  no  other  motives  but  those  of  mer- 
cy and  love,  to, try  to  induce  them  to  repent,  that 
they  may  be  saved  ?  Must  he  confine  himself 
to  invitations  and  promises,  in  his  efforts  to  per- 
suade them  to  be  reconciled  to  him?  What  do 
those  persons  mean,  who  say  that  they  will  not 
be  scared  to  heaven  ?  Do  they  mean  that  they 
had  rather  go  to  hell,  than  be  aroused  to  attend 
to  religion  by  motives  of  terror  ?  Do  they  mean 
to  dictate  to  God,  or  his  minister,  how  he  must 
preach  to  them,  and  tell  him  what  motives  shall, 
and  what  motives  shall  not,  be  employed  to  in- 
fluence their  minds  ?  God  may  know,  as  well 
as  such  persons,  what  will  be  most  likely  to  save 
their  souls.  Does  it  look  modest  for  a  poor, 
feeble,  ignorant  worm  of  the  dust,  to  hold  up 
his  head  and  say  :  "  I  will  not  be  moved  by  fear 


124  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

to  attend  to  religion  1 "  If  the  Bible  be  true, 
then  all  unconverted  persons  are,  EVERY  MO- 
MENT, exposed  to  hell.  Is  it  so,  and  shall  they 
be  kept  in  ignorance  of  it?  Shall  God's  min- 
isters seek  to  please  their  hearers,  or  to  save 
them  ?  Shall  they  withhold  some  of  the  con- 
straining motives  of  the  Gospel,  for  fear  they 
will  frighten  or  displease  some  of  their  hear- 
ers ?  Shall  they  thus  cry,  '  Peace,  Peace,'  to 
their  impenitent  hearers,  when  God  is  at  war 
with  them ;  and,  when  he  has  said  in  his  word, 
and  by  his  Providence,  that  "  there  is  no  peace 
to  the  wicked?"  And  will  those  persons,  who 
are  conscious  that  they  have  never  "passed  from 
death  unto  life,"  be  offended  at  those  motives, 
and  at  that  kind  of  preaching,  which  have  al- 
ways been  most  owned  and  blessed  of  God  to 
the  conversion  of  sinners  ?  The  excuse,  that 
you  will  not  be  scared  to  heaven,  is  aimed,  as 
you  can  see,  not  so  much  at  ministers,  as  at  God 
himself ;  for  no  minister  ever  preached  half  so 
much  terror  as  God  did  at  Sinai;  nor  half  so 
much  of  hell  and  damnation,  with  all  their 
dreadful  terrors,  as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  did. 
"Wo  unto  him,  then,  that  striveth  with  his 
Maker." 


HOW  CAME  SIN  INTO  THE  WORLD  ?     125 
SECTION  XIII. 

How  came  sin  into  the  world  ? 

WHEN  the  subject  of  personal  religion  is  in- 
troduced, in  order  to  ward  off  the  truth  from 
his  own  conscience,  one  will  ask,  "  How  came 
sin  into  the  universe  ?"  To  such  I  would  reply 
as  follows :  It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that 
there  is  sin,  or  moral  evil,  in  the  universe. 
The  experience  of  all  men,  in  all  countries,  and 
all  ages,  proves  conclusively  that  there  is  moral 
good  and  moral  evil  in  the  world.  Every  na- 
tion, every  state,  every  family,  in  a  word,  every 
thing  in  the  shape  of  government  is  built  on 
this,  as  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  existing 
state  of  things,  namely,  that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  moral  right,  and  moral  wrong. 
What  would  be  the  condition  of  society  in  any 
nation,  which  should  embrace  and  publish  that 
there  is  no  such  a  thing  as  wrong  ?  that  no 
man  is  bound  to  perform  what  are  now  called 
moral  duties,  and  no  man  is  bound  to  abstain 
from  what  are  now  called  moral  evils  ?  What 
would  be  the  value  of  life,  or  property,  or  char- 
acter, or  chastity,  in  such  a  community  ?  Every 
one  would  do  that  which  his  inclination,  and 
11* 


126  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

appetites,  and  passions  prompted  him  to  do. 
Such  a  state  of  things,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
once  existed  in  France.  It  was  after  the  French 
nation  decreed  that  the  Bible  was  priestcraft, 
and  death,  an  eternal  sleep.  That  period  is 
spoken  of  as  the  reign  of  terror  Surely, 
things  were  in  a  terrible  state.  Thousands 
and  thousands  were  massacred,  and  the  whole 
kingdom  was  one  vast  brothel.  Such  would  be 
the  state  of  things  throughout  the  earth,  if  the 
distinction  between  moral  right  and  moral 
wrong  were  done  away.  The  difficulty  is  not 
removed  by  saying,  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
civil  right  and  wrong,  and  social  right  and 
wrong.  Civil  and  social  rights  cannot  well  be 
maintained,  unless  they  are  founded  on  moral 
rights.  Civil  and  social  rights  do  not  reach  the 
spring  of  action.  There  needs  to  be  a  sense 
of  moral  obligation,  to  lead  mankind  to  pay 
much  regard  to  their  civil  and  social  obligations. 
We  take  it  for  granted,  therefore,  that  there  is 
moral  evil,  or  sin,  in  the  universe.  And  this 
seems  to  be  admitted  by  those  who  inquire, 
"  How  sin  came  into  the  universe  ?"  We  then 
make  this  affirmation,  Sin  is  in  the  world. 

Another  thought,  which  we  need  to  contem- 
plate in  this  connection,  is  this,  God  is  infinite- 


HOW  CAME  SIN  INTO  THE  WORLD  ?      127 

ly  holy,  and  infinitely  benevolent.  This  is  ad- 
mitted by  all  those  who  acknowledge  his  ex- 
istence. Now,  if  God  be  infinitely  holy,  he  must 
be  opposed  to  sin,  which  is  the  opposite  of  holi- 
ness. And  if  he  is  opposed  to  sin,  he  could  not 
influence  angels,  or  men,  or  any  other  being  to 
commit  sin.  This  is  in  accordance  with  Scrip- 
ture :  "  God  cannot  be  tempted  of  evil ;  neither 
tempteth  he  any  man"  We  may  be  assured, 
therefore,  that  God  did  not  dispose  holy  beings 
to  commit  sin.  Such  a  thought  would  be  a 
slander  on  his  character.  Instead  of  disposing 
his  creatures  to  commit  sin,  God  blames  them 
for  sinning,  and  threatens  the  heaviest  possible 
penalty  against  those  who  dare  to  sin.  He 
says,  "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  shall  die  ;"  "  The 
wages  of  sin  is  death  ;"  "  These  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment"  The  angels 
who  sinned,  "  are  reserved  in  everlasting  chains," 
to  be  punished.  We  see,  therefore,  that  God 
treats  men  and  fallen  angels,  as  though  they 
had  themselves  originated,  and  committed  all 
the  sin  which  there  is  in  the  universe.  It  is  of 
no  consequence  to  us  whether  we  can  under- 
stand or  not,  how  the  first  holy  being  could  con- 
ceive sin.  Neither  is  it  of  any  consequence  to 
us,  what  was  the  first  sin  ;  whether  it  was  a 


128  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

desire  for  supreme  power,  ambition,  envy,  or 
pride.  We  know  there  must  have  been  a  first 
sin,  and  it  has  had  legions  of  followers.  Well 
for  us  to  remember,  that  "  secret  things  belong 
to  the  Lord  our  God  ;  but  those  that  are  re- 
vealed, to  us' and  our  children."  We  need  not 
try  to  reach  things  which  are  too  high  for  us. 
On  this  subject,  it  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that 
we  are  sinners,  voluntary  sinners,  and  that  we, 
by  voluntarily  committing  sin,  are  giving  our 
approbation  to  the  deed  of  that  being,  who  com- 
mitted the  first  sin.  Our  great  inquiry  ought 
to  be,  How  can  I  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  my 
sins,  and  secure  the  eternal  salvation  of  my 
soul?  This  important  question  is  answered 
in  the  Sacred  Volume,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 


SECTION  XIV. 
I  want  to  wait  for  others'  halting. 

SOME  people,  when  urged  to  seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness,  are 
ready  to  say,  "  I  want  to  see  how  the  young 
converts  hold  out,  before  I  commence."  I  would 


SEE    HOW    OTHERS    HOLD    OUT.  129 

say  to  such,  you  have  already  seen  very  many 
Christians  hold  out  to  the  end,  and  die  in  tri- 
umph ;  you  have  also  seen  man}^  others  hold- 
ing on  their  way,  year  after  year,  ever  since 
you  were  a  child,  and  the  prospect  is  that  they 
will  endure  unto  the  end,  and  be  saved.  Why 
do  you  wish  to  wait  to  see  others  hold  out,  before 
you  even  commence  the  Christian  course  ?  Will 
it  do  you  any  good,  if  some,  who  seem  to  start 
fair  for  heaven,  turn  aside  from  the  way,  and 
show  that  they  have  "  no  part  nor  lot  in  this 
matter?"  It  always  has  been  the  case  that 
some  go  out  from  us,  and  it  is  because  at  heart 
"  they  are  not  of  us  ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us, 
they  no  doubt  would  have  continued  with  us." 
But  if  one  quarter,  or  even  one  half,  who  pro- 
fess to  be  converted,  should  prove  to  be  hypo- 
crites, or  self-deceived,  would  that  do  you  any 
good  ?  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  a//,  who 
profess  religion,  do  not  give  evidence  of  being 
truly  pious  ;  but  there  have  always  been  foolish 
virgins  as  well  as  wise  ones.  Yb?/,  as  well  as 
myself  and  others,  ought  to  weep  over  the  in- 
consistency, formality,  and  hypocrisy  of  those 
who  fall  from  their  apparent  steadfastness. 
Is  it  wise  for  you  to  wait  for  the  halting  of  oth- 
ers, when  it  will  not  alter  your  case,  let  the  mat- 


130  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED.  % 

ter  turn  out  as  it  will  with  them  ?  While  you 
are  thus  waiting  to  see  how  others  hold  out, 
your  heart  is  growing  harder,  your  mind  is  fill- 
ing with  skepticism,  your  influence  is  drawing 
others  down  towards  perdition,  and  your  own 
life  is  swiftly  passing  away  without  doing  any 
good  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  or  for  your  own 
soul,  or  for  your  fellow  men.  Does  your  con- 
science approve  of  the  course  you  are  taking  ? 
Will  you  dare  go  to  the  judgment  with  the  ex- 
cuse, that  you  desired  to  wait  to  see  how  others 
held  out  before  you  commenced  ?  God  will  not 
ask  you,  at  his  bar,  how  others  held  out ;  but 
he  may  ask  you,  why  did  not  YOU  begin,  and 
continue,  and  endure  to  the  end  in  the  ways  of 
the  Lord  ?  Are  you  prepared  to  give  a  satisfac- 
tory answer  to  such  a  question  ?  I  pray  you, 
give  up  your  excuses,  and  commence  at  once 
the  great  business  of  life.  "  Strive  to  enter  in 
at  the  strait  gate,  for  many,  I  say  unto  you, 
will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able." 


i  FEAR  i  SHAN'T  HOLD  OUT.        131 

SECTION  XV. 
If  I  begin,  I  cart t  finish. 

ONE  is  ready  to  say,  "  I  fear  that  if  I  begin 
to  build,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  finish.77  It  is 
commendable,  surely,  to  sit  down  and  count 
the  cost,  before  making  a  profession  of  religion. 
But,  in  doing  it,  we  should  be  candid.  Now, 
let  me  entreat  you  to  look  on  all  sides  of  this 
subject.  .  Remember  that  many  of  your  own 
age,  and  many  younger  than  you  are,  and 
some  perhaps  farther  advanced  in  life,  and 
these  too  of  every  variety  of  talents  and  intelli- 
gence, and  occupying  all  kinds  of  situations 
where  it  is  lawful  for  men  to  be,  have  begun 
to  build  the  Christian  tower,  and  have  gone 
on  with  it  till  it  10 as  finished.  Do  you  seriously 
think  that  you  possess  less  power,  and  less 
means  for  accomplishing  this  work,  than  some 
of  those  who  have  completed  a  Christian  char- 
acter, and  who  have  "brought  forth  the  top 
stone  thereof,  crying,  grace,  grace,  to  it? 
What  do  you  suppose  you  lack  that  they  pos- 
sessed? Have  you  not  as  strong  a  mind  as 
many  of  those  who  have  become  Christians  ? 
Have  your  opportunities  not  been  as  good  as 


132  HAVE    ME   EXCUSED. 

those  which  many  of  them  enjoyed  ?  Have 
you  not  as  much  power  to  love,  or  hate,  as 
they  had  ?  And  if  they  could,  and  did,  be- 
come Christians,  and  hold  out  in  religion  to 
the  end  of  life,  why  cannot  you  ?  If  the  com- 
mencing and  completing  a  Christian  character, 
was  now  a  new  thing' — an  experiment — and  if 
the  grace  of  God  were  not  proffered  to  those 
who  seek  it,  then  there  might  be  some  reason 
to  fear,  lest  those  who  begin  should  not  be  able 
to  finish.  "  The  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil,"  are  mighty  foes  to  Zion's  pilgrims ;  and 
they  are  ready,  on  all  occasions,  to  throw 
obstacles  in  their  way,  and  to  present  before 
them  roaring  lions,  and  mighty  giants,  and 
fearful  sloughs.  Multitudes,  on  seeing  the 
slough  of  despond,  or  on  hearing  the  lions  roar, 
or  the  giants  curse,  are  deterred  from  commenc- 
ing a  religious  life,  and  carry  back  an  evil  re- 
port of  the  way.  But  though  the  difficulties 
are  many  and  great,  yet  they  are  not  so  many 
and  so  great,  but  that  those  who  set  out  sin- 
cerely to  obey  God,  and  are  determined  to 
make  their  way  to  heaven  in  the  Bible-path, 
can  triumphantly  say,  "  they  that  be  for  us  are 
more  than  they  that  be  against  us."  The  mo- 
ment the  sinner  lays  down  the  weapons  of  his 


i  FEAR  i  SHAN'T  HOLD  OUT.        133 

rebellion,  and  chooses  Christ  as  the  captain  of 
his  salvation,  he  has  all  the  armies  of  heaven 
on  his  side,  and  God  himself  for  his  shield  and 
buckler,  and  for  the  rock  of  his  defence.  At 
that  eventful  moment,  he  becomes  an  heir  of 
God,  and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ.  And  though 
he  has  no  resources  of  his  own,  (independent  of 
what  he  is  entitled  to  as  an  heir  of  heaven,)  yet 
he  can  now  draw  from  the  overflowing  treasury 
of  his  Father,  any  amount  needed  to  carry  for- 
ward, and  complete  his  Gospel  tower. 

In  counting  the  cost,  therefore,  the  sinner 
should  not  limit  his  calculations  to  his  present 
possessions,  but  should  bear  in  mind  that,  by  a 
simple  act  of  faith,  or  confidence  in  God,  he 
may  become  heir  of  all  things.  "  They  that 
trust  in  the  Lord  shall  not  want  any  good 
thing." 

If  you  still  say,  you  fear  you  should  not  be 
able  to  finish,  let  me  tell  you  that  one  thing  is 
absolutely  certain,  namely,  you  are  sure  not  to 
finish,  if  you  do  not  begin.  You  never  will 
reach  heaven  unless  you  start  that  way.  And 
as  long  as  you  are  neglecting  to  repent  of  your 
sins,  and  yield  your  heart  to  God,  you  are 
going  rapidly  away  from  heaven.  Do  you 
say,  "  but  I  would  commence  serving  God,  if  I 
12 


134  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

only  knew  that  I  should  succeed  in  becoming  a 
Christian,  and  in  persevering  in  the  Christian 
course  to  the  end."  Well,  you  may  know  that 
you  will  hold  out,  if  you  really  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  for,  by  believing  in  Christ, 
you  become  righteous — your  faith  is  counted 
for  righteousness — and  God,  who  cannot  lie. 
has  expressly  declared,  "  The  righteous  shall 
hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that  hath  clean  hands 
be  stronger  and  stronger."  Having  now  count- 
ed the  cost  with  me,  let  me  entreat  of  you  to 
begin  to  build  for  eternity  at  once.  You  have 
none  too  much  time  to  accomplish  the  mighty 
work  which  is  before  you.  "  Other  foundation 
can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which 
is  Jesus  Christ.'7  Begin,  then,  by  receiving 
him  as  your  Saviour,  your  only  hope,  your 
chief  corner  stone.  Build  upon  this  foundation, 
(not  hay,  wood,  and  stubble,  but)  "  gold,  silver, 
and  precious  stones."  Keep  in  mind  this  truth, 
you  must  begin  to  build,  or  perish  for  ever. 
You  must  build  upon  Christ,  or  perish  for 
ever.  You  must  build  of  good  substantial  ma- 
terials, "  your  most  holy  faith,"  or  you  will 
suffer  loss.  You  must  persevere  in  the  ways 
of  well-doing,  seeking  for  glory,  and  honour, 
and  immortality,  or  you  will  never  receive 
**«rnal  life. 


RELIGION  WOULD  HURT  MY  BUSINESS.    135 

SECTION  XVI. 
My  business  and  religion  would  not  agree. 

SOME  men,  when  urged  to  embrace  the 
Saviour,  are  ready  to  say,  "  My  employment 
and  religion  would  not  go  well  together." 
Why  not  ?  Two  can  walk  together,  if  they 
are  agreed.  If  your  business  is  right  and  pro- 
per, religion  will  not  interfere  with  it.  Is  your 
employment  such  as  your  conscience,  and  such 
as  you  have  reason  to  believe  the  Bible  justify? 
Is  it  such  as  you  would  wish  to  be  engaged  in 
when  summoned  away  to  the  judgment-bar  of 
Christ  ?  Can  you,  with  an  honest  and  upright 
heart,  ask  the  Lord  to  prosper  you  in  your 
business,  and  to  "  establish  the  Avork  of  your 
hands  upon  you  ?  "  Is  your  employment  such 
as  supreme  love  to  God  would  point  out  as  just 
and  suitable  ?  Is  it  consistent  with  the  golden 
rule,  which  requires  you  to  "  love  your  neigh- 
bour as  yourself,"  and  to  "  do  as  you  would  be 
done  by?"  Now,  if  your  business  is  justi- 
fiable at  the  bar  of  conscience,  and,  if  you  have 
reason  to  think  it  will  be,  at  the  bar  of  God, 
you  can  still  continue  in  it,  and  become  a 
Christian  too.  Men  have  become  Christians, 


136  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

and  lived  in  the  enjoyment  of  religion,  who 
were  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  lawful  business. 
Farmers,  mechanics,  merchants,  lawyers,  phy- 
sicians, and  statesmen,  have  become  pious 
without  giving  up  their  business  ;  and  if  others 
have,  you  may.  But  perhaps  you  have  doubts 
as  to  the  propriety  and  justice  of  your  employ- 
ment. Perhaps  you  discover  that  the  direct 
and  legitimate  tendency  of  your  business,  is  to 
injure  your  fellow  men,  either  in  body,  soul,  or 
estate,  and  that  it  is  thus  opposed  to  the  great 
law  of  love.  If  you  suspect  that  this  k  the 
tendency  of  your  business,  you  ought  to  give  it 
up  at  once,  whether  you  ever  become  a  Chris- 
tian or  not.  If  you  have  serious  scruples  about 
the  matter,  you  had  better  take  the  safe  side. 
Possibly  you  are  ready  to  say,  "  I  have  embark- 
ed all  my  capital,  and  more  too,  in  this  busi- 
ness, and  if  I  leave  it,  my  family  and  creditors 
will  suffer."  This  reminds  me  of  the  story  of 
the  farmer-sailors.  Just  before  the  close  of  the 
last  war,  a  number  of  honest-hearted  farmers 
took  it  into  their  heads  to  get  rich  in  a  hurry. 
To  accomplish  this,  they  sold  their  farms  and 
other  disposable  property  for  cash,  and  then 
borrowed  a  considerable  amount  of  their  neigh- 
bours, and  invested  it  all  in  a  privateer.  But 


RELIGION  WOULD  HURT  MY  BUSINESS.    137 

while  the  ship  was  overhauling,  and  preparing 
for  a  cruise,  the  news  of  peace  arrived.  Filled 
with  consternation  at  their  disappointment,  our 
honest  farmers  inquired,  ''What  shall  be 
done  ?  We  can't  afford  to  lose  all  our  money 
and  time  for  nothing.  And  our  families  and 
creditors  will  suffer  too.  Let  us  put  right 
off  to  sea,  under  pretence  that  we  thought 
the  news  of  peace  only  an  unauthorized  ru- 
mour, and  if  we  take  one  or  two  good  prizes, 
we  shall  save  ourselves,  our  families,  and 
our  creditors."  But  one,  more  conscientious 
than  his  comrades,  inquired,  will  this  be  right? 
Will  this  be  doing  as  we  would  be  done  by? 
Will  our  country,  or  our  God,  justify  us  in  tak- 
ing this  course  ?  Will  it  not  be  looked  upon  as 
piracy?"  These  questions  opened  their  eyes, 
and  led  them  to  see  the  impropriety  and  injus- 
tice of  the  course  proposed.  Says  one,  "  I  will 
sooner  let*  my  family  go  to  the  poor-house,  than 
support  them  in  this  way."  "So  will  I,"  said 
another.  "  But  what  will  our  creditors  do  ?'  in- 
quired a  third.  "They  may  put  us  in  jail," 
answered  another,"  and  I  had  rather  die  there, 
than  endanger  the  lives,  and  take  away  the 
property  of  the  innocent,  to  pay  them."  Thus 
ended  this  bloodless,  unprofitable  expedition. 
12* 


138  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

Our  farmers  concluded  to  sell  their  ship,  that  it 
might  be  employed  in  commerce,  for  what  it 
would  bring,  and  to  return  home  to  support  their 
families,  and  pay  their  debts  as  well  as  they 
could.  Do  you  not  approve  of  their  decision, 
and  commend  their  course?  Well,  then,  if 
you  are  in  a  similar  predicament,  "  go  and  do 
likewise."  What  would  it  profit  you  to  gain  the 
whole  world  by  robbery,  or  dishonesty,  or  injus- 
tice ?  or  by  pursuing  a  business  which  is  dis- 
pleasing to  God,  and  injurious  to  mankind  ? 
Those  who  accumulate  property  by  the  slave- 
trade  ;  or  by  the  sweat,  and  unpaid  toil  of  slaves ; 
or  by  gambling,  either  in  games  of  chance,  or  in 
lotteries ;  or  by  making  or  selling  intoxicating 
drinks ;  or  by  theatres,  or  brothels ;  or  by  any 
other  unholy  business  ;  will  doubtless  find, 
sooner  or  later,  that  their  "  gold  and  silver  are 
cankered,  and  that  the  rust  of  them  will  be  a 
witness  against  them,  and  will  eat  their  flesh 
as  it  were  fire"  Yes,  they  will  doubtless  find 
that  they  were  "  heaping  treasure  together  for 
the  last  days" — "  a  treasure  of  wrath  against 
the  day  of  wrath."  And  now,  what  will  you 
do,  my  dear  readers,  who  are  doubtful  as  to  the 
propriety  of  your  employment?  Will  you  aban- 
don it,  and  "  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and 


MANY    CARES    AND    NO    TIME.  139 

his  righteousness,"  and  trust  his  promise,  that  all 
things  necessary  "  will  be  added  ?"  or  will  you 
hold  fast "  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,"  and 
•thus  fail  of  securing  "the  true  riches  ?"  Act 
wisely.  Act  as  you  will  wish  you  had  acted,  ten 
thousand  years  hence. 


SECTION  XVII. 
Many  cares,  and  no  time. 

MULTITUDES  are  ready  to  say,  "My  mind  is 
so  occupied  with  worldly  cares,  that  I  have  no 
time  to  attend  to  religion."  To  such  I  would 
reply,  who  has  brought  these  cares  upon  you  ? 
Have  you  been  voluntary  or  not,  in  assuming 
them  ?  Do  you  apprehend  that  God  puts  men 
in  circumstances,  (while  in  this  state  of  proba- 
tion,) where  they  cannot  serve  him?  Men 
sometimes  put  themselves  upon  forbidden 
ground,  where  it  would  be  difficult  to  serve  the 
Lord.  This  is  the  case,  in  fact,  with  all  men 
by  nature.  All  have  gone  out  of  the  way  of 
holiness,  and  are  on  the  devil's  ground.  While 
they  remain  there,  it  is  utterly  impossible  for 
them  to  please  and  serve  God.  Men  come  wil- 


140  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

lingly  into  this  state,  and  voluntarily  remain  in 
it.  And  yet  they  sometimes  have  the  effrontery 
to  offer  their  situation — the  situation  of  their 
own  choosing — as  a  reason  why  they  do  not 
serve  the  Lord.  "The  carnal  mind,"  say  they, 
"  is  enmity  against  God  ;  it  is  not  subject  to  his 
law ;  neither  indeed  can  be  :  so  then  they,  that 
are  in  the  flesh,  cannot  please  God."  They 
seem  to  take  it  for  granted,  because  they  hate 
God  and  his  service,  and  because  they  cannot 
love  and  hate  him  at  the  same  time,  that  there- 
fore they  are  excusable  for  continuing  to  hate, 
and  refusing  to  love  him.  They  seem  to  think 
that  God  requires  them  to  perform  holy  duties 
with  an  unholy  heart — that  he  commands 
them  to  "  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel,"  to 
"  love  God  and  their  neighbour,"  while  he  al- 
lows them  to  remain  under  the  influence  of  the 
carnal  mind.  Whereas,  the  truth  is,  God  gives 
them  no  permission  to  remain  in  a  sinful  state, 
even  for  a  moment.  He  commands  sinners  as 
their  first  duty,  to  lift  up  holy  hands,  without 
Avrath  and  doubting.  The  first  act  of  the  sin- 
ner, which  God  approves,  is  hearty  obedience. 
He  does  nothing  acceptably,  till  he  does  this. 
And  when  he  does  this,  he  is  a  new  creature, 
and  is  no  longer  in  the  fleshy  but  in  the  spirit. 


MANY    CARES    AND    NO    TIME.  141 

He  now  can  repent,  and  love  God,  and  believe 
in  Christ,  and  pray,  lifting  up  holy  hands,  and 
engage  in  all  Christian  duties  in  a  manner 
which  is  pleasing  to  God,  and  profitable  to  him- 
self. Arid  now,  my  dear  reader,  if  you  have 
brought  yourself  into  trouble — if  you  have 
loaded  your  own  mind  with  cares  and  anxie- 
ties— if  you  are  on  forbidden  ground,  where 
you  cannot  do  your  duty — a  regard  to  your 
own  good,  and  a  regard  to  the  pleasure  of  God, 
should  lead  you  at  once  to  abandon  your  pre- 
sent position,  and  throw  off  the  load  which  you 
have  wickedly  assumed,  and  begin  immediate- 
ly to  walk  in  all  the  commands  and  ordinances 
of  the  Lord,  blameless.  But  if  your  cares  and 
perplexities  are  brought  upon  you,  in  the  pro- 
vidence of  God,  without  your  fault,  they  need 
not,  and  should  not  prevent  your  serving  the 
Lord.  Are  you  a  parent  ?  and  is  your  mind 
occupied  in  providing  for,  and  taking  care  of 
your  children?  You  are  the  very  one  who 
needs  the  sustaining  influence  of  religion.  Are 
you  taking  thought  for  the  morrow,  saying, 
"  What  shall  we  eat  ?  what  shall  we  drink  ? 
and  wherewith  shall  we  be  clothed  ?  "  Our 
kind  Saviour  says  to  you  in  particular,  "  Seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness, 


142  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

and  all  these  tilings  shall  be  added"  Are  you 
immersed  in  business,  or  embarrassed  with 
debts  ?  Surely  you  need  a  friend,  to  whom  you 
can  unbosom  all  your  cares  and  trials,  and  one 
who  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  your 
infirmities.  Such  a  friend  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  not  right,  nor  safe,  nor  comforta- 
ble, to  be  "  careful  and  troubled  about  many 
things,"  while  the  "  one  thing  needful "  is  neg- 
lected. 

Call  to  mind  the  solemn  truth,  that  though 
you  have  so  many  cares,  and  so  much  business, 
as  to  prevent  your  serving  God,  and  making 
preparation  for  heaven,  yet  God  will  never  ac- 
cept your  cares  and  business  instead  of  your 
heart  and  service.  With  all  your  cares  and 
troubles,  you  are  hastening  on  towards  the 
judgment.  Death  is  this  moment  preparing 
an  arrow  for  you,  and  soon  you  will  fall,  and 
groan,  and  die.  Your  cares,  your  anxieties, 
your  business,  or  your  disregard  to  eternal 
things,  will  present  no  obstruction  to  the  deadly 
shaft.  Cares,  or  no  cares,  you  must  die.  You 
must  go  to  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  and 
there  render  an  account  of  your  disregard  of 
God  and  divine  things.  You  may  now  fill 
your  mind  with  farms  and  merchandise,  with 


MANY    CARES    AND    NO    TIME.  143 

ships  and  stores,  with  work  and  trade,  with  wife 
and  children,  with  food  and  raiment,  but  you 
cannot  hide  behind  these  so  that  death  will  fail 
to  find  you.  He  will  follow  you  into  all  your 
lurking  places.  "  The  hail  shall  sweep  away 
your  refuges  of  lies,  and  the  waters  shall  over- 
flow your  hiding  places."  I  pray  you  then,  let 
your  anxieties  be  turned  to  a  preparation  for 
heaven.  As  to  your  not  having  time  to  do 
right — to  serve  God — it  is  all  a  mistake.  Re- 
ligion consists  in  attending  to  our  lawful  and 
proper  business,  with  a  view  to  God's  glory. 
Those  who  are  the  most  religious,  are  "  dili- 
gent in  business"  as  well  as  " fervent  in  spirit." 
Only  act  up  to  this  divine  direction,  "  Whether 
ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatever  ye  do,  do  all  to 
the  glory  of  God"  and  you  will  have  good 
evidence  that  you  are  a  Christian.  And  as  you 
must  find  time  to  die,  will  it  not  be  wise  to  take 
time  to  prepare  to  die  ?  Suitable  time  spent 
in  religious  duties,  will  not  hinder  your  progress 
in  lawful  business.  And  if  you  spend  consid- 
erable time  in  imparting  religious  instruction  to 
your  family,  (if  you  have  one,)  and  in  cultivat- 
ing religious  feelings  in  your  closet,  in  the 
prayer  meeting,  and  on  the  Sabbath,  you  will 
not  find  it  time  lost,  or  time  unprofitably  spent. 


144  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

It  takes  time  to  amass  a  large  treasure  in  hea- 
ven, as  well  as  it  does  to  accumulate  one  on 
the  earth.  And  time  spent  in  laying  up  trea- 
sure above,  will  be  found,  in  the  end,  to  have 
been  a  hundred  fold  more  productive,  than  time 
spent  in  laying  up  treasure  upon  the  earth. 
Try  it,  my  reader,  and  tell  me  when-  I  meet 
you  at  the  judgment,  if  I  was  not  correct. 


SECTION  XVIII. 

Religion  would  ruin  my  property  and  repu- 
tation. 

ANOTHER,  when  pressed  to  seek  the  salva- 
tion of  his  soul,  replies,  "  I  fear  that  becoming 
a  Christian  would  have  a  bad  effect  on  my 
property  and  reputation."  To  such  I  would 
say,  if  you  have  acquired  your  property  by 
unfair,  or  dishonest  means,  this  may  be  the 
case.  But  what  good  does  this  ill-gotten  gain 
do  you  now?  Do  you  enjoy  yourself  in  its 
possession  ?  Does  that  food,  or  drink,  afford  a 
good  relish  to  your  appetite,  which  you  are 
conscious  properly  belongs  to  others  ?  Do  those 
garments  sit  easy  on  your  body,  which  you 


RELIGION  WOULD  HURT  MY  REPUTATION.    145 

know  are  purchased  by  money,  "kept  back 
by  fraud  "  from  your  creditors  1  Ill-gotten  gain 
is,  to  its  possessor,  like  burning  coals  in  his 
bosom.  A  man  is  far  happier  by  restoring  it  to 
its  lawful  owner,  (even  if  he  is  thereby  reduced 
to  absolute  penury,)  than  he  is  in  its  possession. 
And  as  to  reputation,  3^011  rs  may  not  now 
stand  as  fair  in  the  estimation  of  the  communi* 
ty,  as  you  apprehend  it  does.  Those  who  have 
heard  the  story  of  your  injustice  and  oppression, 
your  meanness  and  dishonesty,  your  gambling^ 
and  so  forth,  would  not  be  as  likely  to  relate  it 
to  you  as  to  others.  The  world  probably  knows 
more  about  you  than  you  are  aware  of* 
Though  the  community  is  suffering  you  to  live^ 
yet  it  is  doing  it  more  for  want  of  an  opportunity 
to  put  you  down,  than  from  any  personal  re- 
spect which  is  cherished  for  you.  Depend  upon 
it)  your  name  is  not  now  like  "  precious  oint-' 
meat,"  which  fills  the  air  with  sweet  fragrance. 
And  the  longer  you  remain  in  your  present  con- 
dition, the  worse  it  is  for  you.  Should  those, 
who  are  acquainted  with  you,  discover  in  you/ 
even  now  a  disposition  to  do  right,  and  should  * 
they  see  you  restore,  as  far  as  possible,  what  - 
you  have  taken  wrongfully,  and  manifest  that; 
you  deeply  regret  your  past  conduct,  they  would 
13 


146  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

have  a  much  higher  regard  for  you  than  they 
now  cherish.  And  their  confidence  in  you,  and 
their  esteem  for  you,  would  increase  just  in 
proportion  as  they  saw  you  disposed  to  "  deal 
justly,  and  love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly  with 
God." 

But  if  it  were  otherwise — if  you  should  be 
treated  with  scorn  and  contempt  in  consequence 
of  your  endeavours  to  repair  the  wrongs  you 
have  done — still  your  own  peace  of  mind,  and 
the  command  of  God,  should  lead  you  at  once, 
and  without  the  least  hesitation,  to  pursue  this 
course.  Our  blessed  Saviour  says,  "  Fear  not 
them  that  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill 
the  soul ;  but  rather  fear  HIM,  who  is  able  to 
destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell."  Which 
do  you  prefer,  the  love  and  esteem  of  pious  men. 
and  holy  angels,  and  Christ  our  Lord,  or  the 
hollow-hearted  applause  of  wicked  men  and 
devils?  But  the  truth  doubtless  is,  that  even 
wicked  men  and  devils  inwardly  respect  and 
revere  those,  who  "  cease  to  do  evil,  and  learn 
to  do  well" — those,  who  "break  off  their  sins 
by  righteousness,  and  their  iniquities,  by  turn- 
ing unto  the  Lord  " — far  more  than  they  do 
those,  who,  like  themselves,  "  do  not  obey  the 
truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness." 


RELIGION  WOULD  HURT  MY  REPUTATION.    147 

As  to  property,  gotten  by  iniquity,  you  would 
be  better  off  without  it,  than  you  can  be  with  it. 
It  only  causes  you  trouble  of  heart,  and  vexa- 
tion of  spirit.  It  preys  like  an  eating  cancer  on 
all  your  enjoyments.  When  Zaccheus,  the 
publican,  was  willing  to  receive  Christ,  he  stood 
and  said,  "  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods 
I  give  to  the  poor ;  and  if  I  have  taken  any- 
thing by  false  accusation,  I  restore  fourfold." 
And  Jesus  said,  "  This  day  is  salvation  come 
to  this  house."  Salvation — forgiveness  of  sins, 
peace  of  conscience,  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  a 
preparation  for  heaven — is  of  more  value  to  you 
than  all  the  wealth  of  this  world.  "  Honesty 
is  the  best  policy,"  even  if  we  only  consider  our 
present  good  ;  but  taking  into  view  our  whole 
existence,  that  man  is  more  foolish  than  a  fool, 
who  accumulates  property,  or  who  retains  pro- 
perty accumulated  by  unjustifiable  means. 
"  What  will  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul?"  And  the  man 
who  remains  unjust,  or  dishonest,  must  neces- 
sarily lose  his  soul.  No  matter  whether  he 
have  gotten  little  or  much  by  dishonesty ;  if  he 
have  gotten  any  thing  in  that  way,  he  has 
shown  that  he  had  a  covetous  and  dishonest 
disposition"  He  that  is  unjust  in  the  least,  is 


148  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

unjust  also  in  much,"  that  is,  he  has  shown 
that  he  would  have  taken  much  in  the  same 
way,  if  opportunity  had  offered.  Count  the 
cost ;  is  it  more  wise  to  hold  on  to  the  property 
of  others,  (where  the  laws  of  the  country  can- 
not take  it  from  you,)  and  lose  your  soul  as  the 
consequence  ?  than  it  is  to  confess  your  sins, 
and  make  restitution  as  far  as  possible,  and 
thereby  secure  eternal  life  ?  Heaven  is  worth 
very  great  sacrifices.  Hell  is  a  terrible  place. 
Its  punishments  will  be  hard  to  bear.  "  Who 
can  dwell  with  devouring  fire  ?  Who  can  dwell 
with  everlasting  burnings  ? "  Heaven  and 
hell  are  before  you.  The  decision  which  you 
are  now  making,  may  settle  the  point  for  you 
forever — may  fix  your  destiny  for  eternity. 
Bear  in  mind  that  (t  the  extortioner  and  the 
unjust"  as  well  as  " murderers,  and  idolaters, 
and  adulterers,  and  liars,  and  drunkards,  shall 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God"  Do  you 
value  your  "  unrighteous  mammon,"  more  than 
you  do  the  favour  of  God,  and  the  happiness  of 
heaven  ?  Do  you  dread  poverty  and  reproach, 
more  than  you  do  hell,  and  the  everlasting 
frown  of  "  our  God,  who  is  a  consuming  fire  ?  " 
Our  Saviour  says  to  those  in  your  situation, 
"  Whosoever  he  be  of  you  that  fovsaketh  not 


PRAYERS    AN    ABOMINATION.  149 

all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 
Now,  are  you  willing  to  suffer  the  loss  of  all 
things  for  Christ's  sake  ?  or,  like  Esau,  will  you 
sell  your  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage  ?  But 
it  is  more  than  possible  that,  if  you  determine 
to  do  right,  you  will  not  be  a  loser  in  this  life. 
Our  blessed  Lord  has  said,  that  those  who  leave 
houses  and  lands,  and  so  forth,  for  his  sake, 
"  shall  receive  manifold  more  in  this  present 
life,  and  in  the  world  to  come,  life  everlasting." 
Venture  upon  his  promise,  and  see  if  he  will 
not  be  a  good  paymaster. 


SECTION  XIX. 
Prayers,  an  abomination. 

SOME  men,  when  urged  to  call  upon  the 
Lord,  very  gravely  answer,  "  The  prayers  of 
the  wicked  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord." 
To  such  I  would  say,  do  you  really  think  that 
your  prayers  would  be  an  abomination  in  the 
sight  of  God  ?  And  is  this  the  reason  why  you 
so  seldom  attempt  to  pray  ?  Is  this  the  reason 
why  you  pray  when  you  are  sick,  or  in  affliction, 
<or  in  danger  ?  Does  it  do  better  to  mock  God, 
13* 


150  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED, 

or  offer  to  him  that  which  is  an  abomination, 
at  such  times,  than  when  things  go  well  with 
you  ?  When  wicked  men  are  dying,  they  raise 
their  earnest  prayers  to  God  that  he  would 
spare  their  lives.  Is  it  because  they  think  their 
prayers  are  sin  and  abomination,  that  they 
take  this  solemn  time  to  present  them  to  a 
holy  God  ? 

Again,  if  your  prayers  are  such  an  abomina- 
tion to  God,  what  is  your  neglect  to  pray  ?  If 
an  attempt  to  obey  God  is  sin,  what  is  your 
continued  and  wilful  disobedience,  but  a  still 
greater  sin  ?  If  the  holiest  thing  you  ever  at- 
tempted to  do,  is  so  hateful  in  the  sight  of  a 
holy  God,  what  are  all  your  other  acts — your 
swearing,  your  Sabbath-breaking,  your  disobe- 
dience to  your  parents,  your  adulteries,  your 
falsehoods,  your  dishonesties,  your  oppressions 
of  the  poor,  your  covetousness.  your  neglect  t& 
pray,  your  neglect  to  assemble  with  Christians 
for  divine  worship,  your  neglect  to  search  the 
Scriptures,  your  neglect  to  repent  of  your  sins, 
your  neglect  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  or  your  neglect  to  forsake  all  ungodli- 
ness and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly, 
and  righteously,  and  godly  in  the  world — how 
must  these  things  appear  to  God,  if  even  your 


PRAYERS    AN    ABOMINATION.  151 

prayers  are  an  abomination  to  him  ?  Surely, 
you  are  in  a  wretched  state,  if  your  best,  your 
holiest,  performance  before  God,  is  sin  !  Your 
prayer  an  abomination !  Alas,  for  you ! 
What  must  God  think  of  your  intemperance  ? 
Your  foolish  and  corrupting  conversation? 
Your  hard  speeches  about  Christians  ?  Your 
pride?  Your  unreasonable  anger?  Your 
envy  ?  Your  concupiscence  ?  Your  abuse  of 
God's  mercies  ?  Your  misimprovement  of  his 
judgments  ?— and  your  resistance  of  his  Spirit? 
Yes,  if  your  prayer  is  an  abomination,  (and 
doubtless  it  is,  unless  you  pray,  lifting  up  holy 
hands  without  wrath  and  doubting,)  in  what 
light  does  God  look  upon  the  rest  of  your  life  ? 
If  your  prayers  are  sin,  it  is  high  time  you 
were  alarmed  about  yourself.  It  is  high  time 
that  you  repent,  and  believe  in  Christ,  that  his 
intercession  for  you  may  make  both  yourself 
and  your  prayers  acceptable  to  God.  If,  by 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  you  secure  him  for 
your  Mediator,  High  Priest,  and  Advocate,  you 
can  then  come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  mercy, 
and  find  grace  to  help,  in  every  time  of  need. 
How  delightful  to  have  a  heart  to  pray,  and  to 
be  enabled  to  offer  up  the  effectual  fervent 
prayer  of  the  righteous,  which  availeth  much. 


152  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

O  with  what  different  feelings  does  God  regard 
the  prayers  of  his  devout  worshippers,  and  the 
prayers  and  sacrifices  of  the  wicked  !  One  is 
his  delight ;  the  other  his  abhorrence.  Give 
your  whole  heart  to  God,  and  then  you  will 
find  it  pleasant  and  profitable  to  pray,  and  to 
serve  him,  in  all  his  commands  and  ordinances. 


SECTION  XX 
ril  be  no  hypocrite. 

ANOTHER  person,  assuming  an  air  of  impor- 
tance, says,  "  I  have  no  notion  of  being  a 
hypocrite."  To  such  I  would  reply,  who  wants 
you  to  be  a  hypocrite  ?  We  do  not.  We  abhor 
the  character  of  the  hypocrite  as  much  as  you 
do.  We  wish  no  man  to  be  a  hypocrite.  We 
wish  you,  and  all  others,  to  be  true  Christians. 
The  Christian  and  the  hypocrite  are  very  differ- 
ent persons,  and  are  destined  to,  very  different 
places.  We  ask  you  to  pray,  but  we  do  not 
ask  you  to  do  it  with  a  hypocritical  heart.  We 
ask  you  to  read  the  Bible,  but  we  do  not  ask 
you  to  do  it  with  the  heart  of  a  hypocrite.  We 
ask  you  to  attend  meeting,  but  we  do  not  ask 


153 

you  to  do  it  with  the  hypocrite's  sad  counte- 
nance and  foul  heart.  We  ask  you  to  attend 
to  all  the  duties  of  religion  and  morality,  but 
we  do  not  ask  you  to  play  the  hypocrite  in  at- 
tending to  them.  We  ask  you  to  serve  God 
in  sincerity  and  in  truth,  and  there  can  be  no 
hypocrisy  in  that.  But,  after  all,  is  it  not  pos- 
sible that  you  are  deceiving  yourself,  and  play- 
ing the  hypocrite,  in  the  very  efforts  which  you 
are  making  to  avoid  hypocrisy?  A  hypocrite 
is  one  who  pretends  to  be  different  from  what 
he  really  is.  Well,  have  you  not  sometimes 
pretended  to  have  more  anxiety  about  your 
eternal  state  than  you  really  had  ?  Or,  have 
you  not  pretended  to  have  less  anxiety  than 
you  really  felt  ?  When  you  have  been  asked, 
if  your  mind  was  not  more  than  ordinarily  im- 
pressed with  religious  considerations,  have  you 
not  said  no,  when  you  knew  that  3^ou  did  feel 
an  uncommon  solicitude  about  the  eternal  wel- 
fare of  your  soul?  What  was  this  but  hy- 
pocrisy ?  My  advice  to  you  is,  be  careful  that 
your  abhorrence  of  hypocrisy  does  not  keep  you 
out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  There  is  real 
danger  of  it.  It  lies  in  this  :  when  your  mind 
is  serious  and  thoughtful,  and  you  would  be 
glad  to  know  what  you  must  do  to  be  saved, 


154  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

your  fear  and  abhorrence  of  hypocrisy  will  be 
liable  to  prevent  your  asking  advice  of  experi- 
enced ministers  or  Christians,  lest  they  should 
think  you  more  anxious  than  you  really  are. 
Thus,  by  neglecting  to  tell  your  feelings,  your 
solicitude  is  liable  to  result  in  no  good,  and 
you  grieve  and  offend  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the 
exertions  which  you  make  not  to  show  more 
feeling  than  you  really  have.  If  your  mind  is 
uncommonly  thoughtful,  if  your  mind  is  dis- 
posed to  dwell  on  death,  judgment,  eternity, 
heaven,  hell,  your  sins,  and  the  like,  you  may 
depend  upon  it,  it  is  God's  Spirit  striving  with 
you,  in  order  to  lead  you  to  repent  and  prepare 
for  heaven.  As  you  value  your  soul,  do  not 
suppress  these  feelings.  Do  not  be  ashamed  of 
them.  Ask  counsel  of  some  judicious  Christian, 
or  of  your  minister,  if  you  have  a  pious  one. 
But  especially,  yield  your  heart  immediately  to 
God,  and  become  a  true  Christian  yourself. 
This  is  the  only  effectual  way  to  avoid  the 
character  and  the  doom  of  hypocrites  and  un- 
believers. 


NOT    ENOUGH    CONVICTED.  155 

_ 

SECTION  XXI. 

Not  enough  convicted. 

ANOTHER  person,  when  called  upon  to  re- 
pent and  give  his  heart  to  God,  exclaims,  "  I 
am  not  enough  convicted."  How  much  con 
viction  do  you  want?  What  is  conviction? 
It  is  a  sense  of  having  done  wrong.  Unless  a 
man  is  sensible  that  he  is  going  the  wrong 
way,  he  will  not  be  likely  to  change  his  course. 
But  when  he  is  convinced  that  he  is  wrong,  he 
need  not  wait  till  he  has  more  painful  evidence 
of  it,  before  he  stops,  and  turns  about,  and  com- 
mences retracing  his  steps.  So  the  sinner,  when 
he  sees  himself  to  be  a  sinner,  need  not  wait  be- 
fore he  breaks  off  his  sins  by  righteousness,  and 
his  iniquities,  by  turning  unto  the  Lord.  Con- 
viction is  not  religion.  If  it  were,  we  might  say, 
the  more  conviction  the  better.  Multitudes  have 
been  overwhelmed  with  conviction,  who  have 
no  religion.  Satan  probably  has  more  convic- 
tion than  any  sinner  in  this  world  ever  had. 
But  his  conviction  does  him  no  good.  Con- 
viction is  not  only  not  religion,  but  the  genu- 
ineness of  a  man's  religion  does  not  at  all  de- 
pend on  the  amount  of  his  conviction.  Some, 


156  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

like  Judas,  have  conviction  enough  to  drive 
them  to  despair  and  ruin,  while  it  brings  them 
no  good.  Others,  like  Zaccheus,  feel  sensible 
of  their  faults,  mourn  over  them,  and  forsake 
them,  while  hardly  a  tear  is  visible  in  their 
eyes,  or  scarcely  an  audible  sigh  bursts  from 
their  contrite  hearts.  These  last,  calmly  and 
deliberately  resolve,  "  As  for  me,  I  will  serve  the 
Lord"  They  cease  to  do  evil,  and  learn  to  do 
well.  They  repent  of  their  sins,  as  committed 
against  God,  and  exercise  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for 
repentance* 

God  seems  to  take  it  for  granted  that  all  men 
have,  or  might  have,  conviction  enough.  He 
no  where  intimates  that  sinners  should  wait 
for  conviction,  or  for  more  conviction,  before 
they  act  right — before  they  repent  and  obey 
the  GospeL  His  language  to  sinners  is,  (not  be 
convicted  and  converted,  but)  "  Repent,  and  be 
converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out." 
God  seems  to  lay  no  stress  upon  conviction,  as 
though  it  made  the  heart  better.  The  idea, 
which  some  good  people  have  embraced,  that 
"long  convictions  make  lasting  conversions," 
comes  up  out  of  the  bottomless  pit.  There  is 
no  Scripture  in  it.  There  is  nothing  in  the  ex- 


NOT    ENOUGH    CONVICTED.  157 

perience  of  the  Christian  world  to  warrant  it. 
I  have  no  doubt  it  is  the  doctrine  of  devils,  and 
one  too,  which  has  drowned  many  souls  in 
perdition.  It  has  led  many  convicted  sinners 
to  put  off  repentance  and  submission,  vainly 
waiting  for  more  feeling,  till  the  Holy  Spirit, 
grieved  and  offended,  has  taken  his  sad  flight, 
and  their  "  last  state  has  become  worse  than 
the  first." 

Was  not  the  conversion  of  Paul  genuine  and 
lasting? — and  yet  his  conviction  was  short, 
and  his  mind,  in  the  mean  time,  perfectly  col- 
lected and  rational*  Were  not  the  conversions 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  the  conversions 
of  the  eunuch  and  the  Philippian  jailer,  genuine 
and  lasting  ?— and  yet  all  of  these  conversions 
were  preceded  by  only  a  very  few  moments  of 
conviction.  As  soon  as  sinners  have  enough 
conviction  to  induce  them  to  do  their  duty^ 
they  have  all  that  is  necessary.  If  sinners 
were  required  to  merit  the  favour  of  God,  and  a 
title  to  heaven,  by  their  impenitent  penances^ 
then  there  might  be  some  propriety  in  calling 
on  them  to  go  for  a  long  time  with  "  their 
heads  bowed  down  like  a  bulrush,  and  with 
sackloth  and  ashes  spread  under  them."  But 
as  God  is  as  angry  with  the  convicted  sinner 
14 


158  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

as  he  is  with  the  one  who  is  stupid,  the  idea 
that  the  sinner  must  wait  for  more  conviction, 
is  wicked,  and  dangerous,  and  impious.  "  God 
now  commandeth  all  men,  every  where,  to  re- 
pent." This  command  is  addressed  to  the  con- 
victed, as  well  as  to  the  stupid — to  all  men,  in 
all  the  circumstances,  as  to  feeling  and  so  forth, 
in  which  they  are  now  found. 

But  is  it  not  possible  that  you  are  trying  to 
keep  off  conviction,  at  the  same  time  that  you 
think  that  you  wish  to  be  more  deeply  convict- 
ed ?  Truth  is  the  instrument  with  which  God 
convicts  men.  That  truth  is  contained  in  the 
Bible.  If  you  honestly  wish  to  be  convicted, 
you  will  read  the  Bible  daily,  and  carefully 
meditate  on  what  you  read.  If  you  do  not 
pursue  this  course,  you  show  that  you  are 
afraid  of  being  convicted.  Our  Saviour  says, 
"  Every  one  that  doeth  evil,  hateth  the  light, 
neither  cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds 
s/wuld  be  reproved"  Are  you  not  loath  to 
have  ministers,  or  Christians,  ask  you  respect- 
ing your  feelings?  Do  you  not  sometimes 
take*  pains  to  avoid  them  ?  Have  you  not 
tried  to  turn  the  conversation  into  some  other 
channel,  when  you  thought  it  was  becoming 
personal  ?  If  you  were  willing  to  be  convicted. 


NOT    ENOUGH    CONVICTED.  159 

you  would  be  glad  to  have  your  case  investiga- 
ted, and  would  seek  opportunities  for  personal 
conversation  with  those  who  have  more  expe- 
rience than  yourself.  If  you  really  wanted  to 
be  convicted,  you  would,  without  any  hesita- 
tion, ask  the  prayers  of  Christians,  and  go  to 
the  inquiry  meeting,  if  there  was  any.  You 
would  not  stay  away  from  meeting,  because 
the  preaching,  and  exhortations,  and  prayers, 
make  you  feel  bad ;  for  that  very  "  feeling 
bad,"  is  conviction.  If  you  wanted  to  be  con- 
victed, therefore,  you  would  go  to  those  meet- 
ings, and  hear  those  preachers,  which  make 
you  feel  the  most  unhappy,  while  you  are  im- 
penitent. The  object  of  preaching  is  to  make 
all  unconverted  sinners  feel  unhappy,  that  they 
may  be  led  to  seek  their  happiness  in  Christ 
alone.  Men  must  be  willing  to  feel  sick,  or 
they  will  not  call  on  the  Great  Physician. 

Now,  be  entreated  to  reflect  that  you  have 
broken  God's  law,  in  thought,  word,  and  deed. 
If  you  see  wherein  you  have  ever  done  wrong, 
by  doing  what  the  law  of  God  forbids,  or  by 
neglecting  what  it  requires,  a  sense  of  this  one 
mis-deedj  is  conviction.  I  once  knew  a  man 
who  got  angry  without  sufficient  cause,  and  a 
sense  of  having  done  wrong  in  thus  getting 


160  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

angry,  was  his  conviction  :  and  when  he  re- 
pented of  that  sin,  he  repented  of  all  his  sins, 
and  trusted  that  he  received  forgiveness  of  God 
through  Christ.  If  you  can  remember  one  sin, 
which  you  have  committed,  a  sense  of  the 
wrong  of  that  sin  is  conviction.  Reflect  that 
one  sin,  if  not  forgiven  through  the  atonement  of 
Christ,  will  for  ever  exclude  you  from  heaven. 
Fly  then  to  the  cross.  "  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  To-day, 
if  you  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your  heart. 


SECTION  XXII. 

"  Religion  not  for  me" 

ANOTHER  tells  us,  with  a  despairing  look,  "I 
don't  know  that  religion  is  for  me."  Why  not 
for  you  as  well  as  others  ?  Do  you  look  upon 
religion  as  upon  a  prize  in  a  lottery,  which 
now  and  then  one  is  so  fortunate  as  to  draw  ? 
This  is  altogether  a  mistaken  view  of  it.  Re- 
ligion is  the  "  pearl  of  great  price/'  which  any 
one,  and  every  one.t  may  come  in  possession  of, 
by  selling  all  that  he  hath.  Religion  is  so 
abundant,  and  so  free,  that  no  one  need  fail  of 


RELIGION    NOT    FOR    ME.  161 

obtaining  it.  It  is  offered,  without  money  and 
without  price,  to  all  who  want  it.  It  is  free  as 
water :  it  is  called  the  "  living  water" — "  the 
water  of  life,"  and  "  whosoever  will"  is  invited  to 
partake  of  ii freely.  "  In  the  last  day,  that  great 
day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood  arid  cried,  "  If  any 
man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." 
At  another  time  he  said,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest."  And  in  the  Old  Testament  he 
says,  "  Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth."  From  these  and  similar 
passages  of  Scripture,  one  of  three  things  is 
evident :  either  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  cannot  do 
as  he  promises,  or  he  is  not  sincere  in  promis- 
ing, or  all  who  want  religion  can  have  it.  You 
will  not  pretend  that  Christ  is  not  sincere  in 
promising,  nor  that  he  lacks  ability  to  do  as  he 
promises.  You  must  then  come  to  the  con- 
clusion, that  whosoever  will,  may  have  religion. 
But  what  is  religion  ?  Religion  is  doing  the 
will  of  God  from  the  heart,  or  hearty  obedi- 
ence to  God.  In  other  words,  religion  is  SERV- 
ING GOD  with  a  sincere  heart.  This  embraces 
a  "  believing  in  his  Son,"  repenting  of  our  sins, 
"  calling  on  his  name,"  and  obeying  his  other 
commands.  In  view  of  what  has  been  said, 
14* 


162  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

you  can  see  whether  religion  is  for  you,  or  not. 
If  you  are  truly  willing  to  serve  God,  then  reli- 
gion is  for  you.  But  if  you  are  really  ivilling 
to  serve  him,  you  will  immediately  commence 
doing  it,  if  you  have  not  already  commenced. 
A  willingness  to  serve  God  will  lead  you  to 
study  the  Bible,  and  to  pray  in  your  closet  and 
in  your  family,  (if  you  have  one,)  and  to  reve- 
rence God's  day,  and  name,  and  ordinances,  and 
to  "live  soberly,  and  righteously,  and  Godly 
in  the  world."  Many  are  willing  to  have  the 
benefits  of  religion,  who  do  not  wish  religion  it- 
self. Balaam  was  willing  to  die  the  death  of 
the  righteous,  though  he  loved  the  wages  of  un- 
righteousness. All  men,  and  even  devils,  would 
be  glad  of  happiness,  if  they  could  come  in 
possession  of  it  without  being  holy — without 
loving  and  obeying  God.  But  there  is  as  great 
a  difference  between  the  benefits  of  religion, 
and  religion  itself,  as  there  is  between  the 
wages  of  a  man,  and  the  hard  labour  for  which 
these  wages  are  paid.  "  The  willing  and  obedi- 
ent shall  eat  the  good  of  the  land."  Our  Lord 
Jesus,  being  made  perfect,  as  our  mediator,  by 
suffering,  "  became  the  author  of  eternal  salva- 
tion unto  all  them  that  obey  him."  Religion  is  for 
you,  as  well  as  others,  if  you  will  obey  Christ. 


THOUGHT  OF  REPENTANCE  PAINFUL.     163 

Should  you  fail  of  religion,  therefore,  and  come 
short  of  heaven,  it  will  be,  not  because  religion 
was  not  for  you,  but  because  you  were  not  wil- 
ling to  forsake  your  sins,  and  serve  the  Lord. 
God  is  now  saying  to  you,  "  Go  work  to-day  in 
my  vineyard."  Do  you  mean  to  obey  this 
command  1  Do  you  say,  "  I  would,  if  I  knew 
that  I  should  be  saved  ?"  Obey,  and  you  may 
be  sure  of  salvation.  Do  your  duty,  and  leave 
yourself  at  God's  disposal,  and  you  need  have 
no  fears  as  to  your  future  destiny.  Begin  at 
once.  It  may  be  now  or  never  with  you. 


SECTION  XXIII 
The  thought  of  repenting  painful. 

ONE  man  says,  "  I  cannot  bear  the  thought 
of  repenting,  it  is  so  painful  to  me."  So  said 
Mrs.  H.  to  the  writer,  while  she  was  in  one  of 
the  last  stages  of  consumption.  She  had  no 
idea  of  dying  without  repentance ;  but  the 
thoughts  of  it  were  so  distressing  to  her,  that 
she  wished  to  defer  it  as  long  as  possible.  Poor 
woman,  she  was  disappointed.  Death  came 
upon  her  suddenly,  and  the  dreaded  work  of  re- 


164  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

pentance,  there  is  reason  to  fear,  was  never 
done.  But  we  would  ask,  What  is  there  in 
repentance,  that  fills  your  mind  with  so  much 
horror  ?  It  includes  retrospection,  conviction, 
contrition,  and  conversion.  It  ought  not  to  be 
painful  to  look  over  one's  past  life.  But  if  we 
have  done  that  which  fills  us  with  shame  and 
sorrow  on  the  review,  (and  who  has  not  ?)  then 
let  us  be  sensible  of  our  faults,  and  exercise 
godly  sorrow  for  them, ,  and  turn  from  them. 
When  you  have  done  these  things,  you  have 
repented.  Does  not  the  good  child,  who  may 
have  disobeyed  his  father,  even  take  pleasure 
in  those  tears  and  that  confession,  which  brings 
back  to  him  his  father's  confidence,  and  his 
father's  smiles?  Repentance,  to  one  who  is 
disposed  to  do  right,  is  not  only  a  duty,  but  a 
gratification.  The  prodigal's  tears  were  sweet, 
both  to  his  father  and  to  himself.  Repentance, 
therefore,  instead  of  being  looked  upon  as  a  very 
unpleasant  and  hated  business,  should  be  at- 
tended to  with  alacrity,  as  a  necessary  and 
healthful  exercise  for  the  soul.  To  make  the 
worst  of  repentance,  it  is  a  medicine,  which  in- 
fallibly cures  the  sick  who  take  it.  It  is  a 
medicine,  without  which  no  mortal  man  can  be 
healed,  and  purified,  and  saved.  Is  it  wise  in 


RELIGION    LIKE    A    LOTTERY.  165 

the  sick  man,  to  refuse  the  healing  medicine, 
because  it  is  unpleasant  to  his  taste  ?  Neither 
is  it  wise  in  sinners  to  put  off  repentance,  be 
cause  it  seems  to  be  unpleasant  to  exercise  it. 
Infinite  good  results  from  it.  How  much  bet- 
ter to  repent  now,  while  pardon  is  offered  to  the 
penitent,  than  to  repent  eternally,  where  repent- 
ance will  be  utterly  unavailing  ! 


SECTION  XXIV. 
Religion  dortt  come  at  one's  beck. 

ANOTHER  says,  "  I  don't  believe  that  people 
can  get  religion  just  when  they  have  a  mind 
to."  What  hinders  ?  If  they  have  a  mind  for 
religion,  what  prevents  their  becoming  religious 
at  once  ?  Can  their  wicked  companions,  or  the 
great  adversary,  keep  them  from  serving  God, 
if  they  are  really  disposed  to  serve  him  ?  Mul- 
titudes have  become  Christians,  and  served  the 
Lord  faithfully,  who  met  with  great  opposition, 
and  persecution,  and  even  death  itself,  in  con- 
sequence. And  if  others,  under  such  discour- 
aging circumstances,  have  become  Christians, 
and  lived  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  duty,  what 


166  HAVE    ME   EXCUSED. 

hinders  your  doing  it  ?  Do  you  think  that  the 
Lord  would  prevent  your  having  religion  if  you 
sincerely  desired  it  ?  And  do  you  think  that 
He  would  be  unwilling  that  you  should  have 
it,  when  you  really  desired  it  ?  Instead  of  being 
unwilling  that  you  should  have  religion,  and 
have  it  too  when  you  have  a  mind  for  it,  does 
he  not  freely  offer  salvation  to  aZ/,  who  have  a 
mind,  or  will,  for  it  ?  And  is  he  not  ready  to 
confer  pardon — religion — at  any  time  when  he 
sees  men  ready,  and  prepared  for  it  ?  He  says 
expressly,  "  Whosoever,  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely."  His  time  to  bless  is 
"NOW."  You  see,  therefore,  that  any  person 
can  have  religion  when  he  really  desires  it,  or 
when  he  has  a  mind  to  serve  God. 

"  Well,  then,"  you  may  be  ready  to  say,  "  if 
I  can  get  religion  when  I  have  a  mind  to,  then 
I  will  take  my  own  time  for  it."  Consider  that 
people  do  not  always  have  a  mind  for  religion. 
Some  people  never  have  such  a  mind.  No  sin- 
ner can  be  sure  that  he  will  ever  have  a  mind 
for  religion.  No  person,  uninfluenced  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  ever  desires  religion.  Neither  old 
age,  nor  a  disrelish  for  life,  nor  a  fear  of  death, 
creates  a  mind  or  desire  for  religion.  Every 
sinner  is  entirely r,  and  at  all  times :  dependent 


RELIGION    LIKE    A    LOTTERY.  167 

on  the  Holy  Spirit  for  a  mind,  or  will,  to  serve 
God  and  be  a  Christian.  And  God  says,  "  My 
Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  man."  And 
if  the  Holy  Spirit  leave  the  sinner,  he  will  have 
no  more  mind  for  religion  than  the  devil  has. 
The  strong  disinclination  to  holy,  self-denying 
duties,  which  all  unregenerate  persons  possess, 
renders  it  just  as  certain  that  they  will  never 
"  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel,"  if  abandoned 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  though  they  had  no 
power  to  break  off  their  sins  and  serve  the  Lord. 
The  sinner's  resolution  to  do  his  duty  at  a 
future  period,  is  more  feeble  and  inoperative, 
than  the  confirmed  drunkard's  resolution  to  re- 
form while  he  continues  to  tipple.  And  the 
longer  a  man  remains  under  the  dominion  of 
sin,  the  greater  strength  and  inveteracy  does 
his  wicked  disinclination  acquire.  Hence  you 
see  that  comparatively  few  old  people  are 
brought  to  repentance.  "Can  the  Ethiopian 
change  his  skin  ?  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ? 
then  may  ye  do  good,  who  are  accustomed  to 
do  evil."  While,  therefore,  it  is  true,  that  any 
one  can  have  religion,  (that  is,  can  serve  God 
and  be  pardoned,)  when  he  has  "  a  mind  to," 
it  is  equally  true,  that  no  one  will  ever  have  a 
mind  to  do  his  duty,  unless  the  Holy  Spirit 


168  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

work  in  him  "  to  will  and  to  do."  And  if  you 
have  no  mind  to  repent  and  turn  to  the  Lord 
now,  you  ought  to  fear  lest  you  will  never  have 
"  a  mind  to."  But  if  you  are  now  disposed  to 
have  religion,  (as  perhaps  you  may  think  you 
are,)  I  beseech  you  to  commence  immediately 
the  service  of  God,  and  you  will  soon  rejoice  in 
his  pardoning  mercy.  Let  your  penitence  and 
faith,  your  humility  and  Christian  love,  your 
prayers  and  conversation,  your  zeal  and  regu- 
larity, make  it  manifest  that  you  do  sincerely 
desire  religion.  If  you  neglect  the  present  call 
of  the  Spirit,  he  may  never  call  again. 

"  Sinner,  perhaps  this  very  day, 

Thy  last  accepted  time  may  be  ; 
Oh,  ibould'st  thou  grieve  him  now  away, 

Then  hope  may  never  beam  on  thee." 


SECTION    XXV, 
Waiting  Gotfs  time. 

ANOTHER  says,  when  urged  to  immediate 
repentance,  "I  must  wait  the  Lord's  time." 
Are  you  sure  that  you  would  attend  to  religion 
in  the  LORD'S  time,  if  you  only  knew  when  that 
was  ?  There  is  not  much  use  in  talking  with 


I    MUST    WAIT    GOD'S    TIME.  169 

a  man,  unless  he  is  honest.  Do  you  honestly 
think  that  you  are  waiting  the  Lord's  time  ? 
Has  the  BIBLE  any  where  told  you  thus  to 
wait  in  your  sins,  for  God  to  come  and  convert 
you  ?  Where  is  the  text  that  encourages  such 
waiting  ?  God,  instead  of  calling  on  you  toivait, 
commands  you,  in  a  voice  like  thunder,  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come.  Does  he  say  to  the 
sinner,  wait  ?  No ;  he  says  to  him,  "  Escape 
for  thy  life,  look  not  behind  thee,  nor  stay  thou 
in  all  the  plains ;  escape  to  the  mountain,  lest 
thou  be  consumed"  Does  this  look  as  though 
God  desired  you  to  remain  in  your  sins,  till  he 
does  more  for  you  than  he  has  done  ?  No ;  it 
appears  that  if  he  were  to  address  you  person- 
ally, he  would  say  to  you,  as  Lot  did  to  his 
friends,  "  Up,  get  you  out  of  this  place."  As 
to  the  Lord's  time,  that  was  when  you  were  a 
little  child.  He  came  to  you  as  soon  as  you 
knew  right  from  wrong,  and  said,  "  Give  me 
thy  heart."  And  when  you  had  grown  older, 
and  sinned  against  him  during  the  years  of 
childhood,  he  came  to  you  again  and  said,  "  I 
love  them  that  love  me ;  and  they  that  seek  me 
early  shall  find  me"  That  was  the  Lords 
time.  Ever  since  then  you  have  been  taking 
your  own  time.  Lest,  however,  you  should 
15 


170  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

despair  of  salvation,  in  consequence  of  having 
failed  of  becoming  a  Christian  in  the  Lord's 
time — in  childhood — "  Again  he  limiteth  a 
certain  day,  saying  in  David,  To-day  if  ye 
will  hear  his  voice,  HARDEN  NOT  YOUR 
HEARTS."  After  God  has  waited,  with  so 
much  long-suffering,  for  your  repentance  and 
reformation,  and  waited  too  in  vain,  -you  may 
still  hear  his  voice,  saying,  "  Behold,  now  is  the 
accepted  time ;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation." 

As  God  is  now,  "  after  so  long  a  time,"  still 
ready  to  accept  you,  and  give  you  salvation, 
will  you  any  longer  insult  him,  by  pretending 
that  you  are  waiting  his  time  ?  You  see  it  is 
not  God's  time  you  are  waiting,  but  your  own. 
You  are  practically  declaring  to  the  Almighty, 
"  I  do  not  like  thy  time  for  attending  to  religion ; 
I  mean  to  take  my  own  time  for  it.  To  be 
sure,  thou  hast  spared  my  life^  and  waited  on 
me  a  long  time ;  but  that  is  nothing.  Thou 
shall  continue  to  wait,  till  I  get  ready  to  repent 
and  serve  thee.  When  I  am  old,  and  infirm, 
and  cannot  enjoy  life  any  longer ;  or  when  I 
see  death  approaching,  then  I  will  call  for  thee. 
And  if  thou  art  disposed  to  say  to  me  then, 
c  Because  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused ;  I  have 


171 

stretched  out  my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded ; 
I  also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  and  though 
you  call,  I  will  not  answer  ;'  still  I  will  plead 
the  promise,  c  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  shall  be  saved ;'  and  unless 
thou  save  me,  I  shall  say  that  thou  hast  not 
been  as  good  as  thy  word."  Ah,  sinner,  you 
will  find  that  God  is  as  good  as  his  word.  You 
will  also  find  that  his  word  did  not  bind  him  to 
hear,  or  save  those,  who  have  spent  their  lives 
in  casting  off  fear,  and  neglecting  prayer  before 
him.  You  will  find  that  "  when  the  Master  of 
the  house  has  risen  up  and  shut  to  the  door, 
you  will  stand  without,  saying,  Lord,  Lord, 
open  unto  us,  but  he  will  answer  and  say  unto 
you,  £  I  know  you  not;'  depart  from  me,  ye 
workers  of  iniquity.  Then  will  you  see  Abra- 
ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  all  the  prophets, 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  you  yourself 
thrust  out."  And  you  will  see  that  you  are 
excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  because 
you  buried  your  talent,  because  you  would  not 
work  in  the  Lords  vineyard,  because  you 
waited  in  impenitence  and  unbelief,  instead  of 
doing  as  God  required.  If  you  would  not  fail 
of  heaven,  seek  religion  now.  "  Be  wise  to-day  ; 
'tis  madness  to  defer ! " 


172  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

"  Hasten,  0  sinner,  to  be  wise, 

And  stay  not  for  the  morrow's  sun  : 
The  longer  wisdom  you  despise, 

The  harder  is  she  to  be  won. 
Oh,  hasten  mercy  to  implore, 

And  stay  not  for  the  morrow's  sun, 
For  fear  thy  season  should  be  o'er 

Before  this  evening's  course  be  run. 
Hasten,  0  sinner,  to  return, 

And  stay  not  for  the  morrow's  sun, 
For  fear  thy  lamp  should  fail  to  burn 

Before  the  needful  work  is  done." 


SECTION  XXVI. 

If  the  thief  found  mercy  at  last,  why  may 
not  17 

ANOTHER  inquires,  "If  the  penitent  thief 
became  a  Christian  just  before  he  died,  why 
may  not  I  ?  "  Should  you  find  yourself  on  a 
dying  bed  without  a  preparation  "for  eternity, 
you  wrill  doubtless  find  your  mind  in  a  poor 
state  for  commencing  the  great  work  of  recon- 
ciliation to  God.  Such  business  needs  a  com- 
posed and  vigorous  mind.  A  mistake  here 
would  be  fatal  to  your  eternal  interests.  Would 
you  be  willing  to  venture  into  the  presence  of  the 
holy,  sin-hating  God,  with  such  kind  of  religion 


DYING-BED.  173 

as  is  usually  embraced  by  sick  people  ?  I  have 
heard  aged  ministers  state  that  it  was  their  de- 
liberate opinion,  formed  after  many  years'  ob- 
servation in  the  sick  chamber,  that  not  one  in 
twenty,  (if  even  one  in  fifty,)  of  those,  who 
express  a  hope  in  consequence  of  sick-bed  ex- 
ercises, is  truly  converted.  If  this  be  correct, 
if  the  mind  is  so  enfeebled  and  disordered  in 
consequence  of  bodily  sickness,  that  those  who 
think  that  they  have  experienced  a  change  of 
heart  under  such  circumstances,  almost  always 
deceive  themselves  ;  is  it  wise,  or  safe,  to  trust 
to  sick-bed  repentance  ?  But  if  it  were  other- 
wise, if  all  those  who  indulge  a  hope  of  forgive- 
ness under  such  circumstances,  were  truly  • 
converted,  are  you  sure  that  you  will  have  the 
privilege  of  lingering  on  a  sick-bed  before  you 
die?  Multitudes  are  "driven  away  in  their 
wickedness,"  without  any  time  for  reflection, 
or  repentance,  or  prayer.  And  are  you  not  lia- 
ble to  die  suddenly  as  well  as  others  ?  Many 
are  deprived  of  the  use  of  their  reason,  before 
any  serious  apprehensions  are  entertained  of 
their  danger,  so  that  they  are  in  no  situation  to 
prepare  to  meet  God.  This  may  be  the  case 
with  you. 

You  speak  of  the  penitent  thief,  and  ask  why 
15* 


174  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED, 

you  may  not  find  mercy  while  dying  as  well  as 
he  ?  If  your  situation  were  like  his,  you  might 
find  mercy  then.  But  it  will  be  quite  other- 
wise. He  was  an  ignorant,  prejudiced  Jew, 
and  had  probably  known  nothing  of  Jesus,  or 
the  way  of  salvation  through  him,  except  what 
he  had  learned  from  Christ's  enemies.  And 
just  as  soon  as  Jesus  told  him  who  he  was,  and 
why  he  was  shedding  his  blood,  and  where  he 
was  going  after  death,  he  at  once  embraces  him 
as  his  Saviour,  takes  his  part,  reproves  his  im- 
penitent companion,  confesses  his  own  sins,  and 
begins  to  pray.  No  sooner  is  Christ  offered  to 
him,  than  he  accepts  the  offer.  His  mind  was 
not  much,  if  any,  affected  by  his  pains,  so  that 
it  was  clear  and  vigorous,  and  capable  of 
choosing  and  acting  in  a  rational  and  consist- 
ent manner.  How  different  from  all  this  would 
it  be  with  you  !  From  infancy  you  have 
known  the  story  of  Christ's  holy  life,  and  vica- 
rious sufferings  and  death,  and  that  there  is 
salvation  in  no  other :  and  hundreds  and  hun- 
dreds of  times  you  have  been  kindly  and  affec- 
tionately invited  to  repent  and  believe  in  Christ, 
that  you  might  be  saved :  and  you  have  read 
the  Bible,  and  heard  the  prayers  and  exhorta- 
tions of  Christians,  and  had  the  strivings  of  the 


DYING-BED.  175 

Holy  Spirit ;  but  you  have  madly  turned  away 
from  all  these  pressing  calls  of  mercy,  so  that  it 
is  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  God  would  regard 
your  bitter  prayers,  "when  distress  and  an* 
guish  come  upon  you." 

"  Many  call  upon  the  Lord, 
And  find  their  cries  too  late* 

Said  a  dying  woman  in  the  state  of  New- York : 
"  I  once  had  a  call,  but  I  was  then  young, 
and  fond  of  company,  and  thought  I  could  not 
so  soon  consent  to  forsake  the  follies  and 
amusements,  and  associates  of  my  }^outh»  I 
therefore  said  to  the  Lord,  go  thy  way  for  this 
time  ;  when  I  am  older  I  will  call  for  thee  !  My 
convictions  left  me.  I  was  settled  in  life  early, 
and  have  raised  up  a  family  without  setting 
them  a  Christian  example,  or  giving  them  re- 
ligious instruction.  And  now,  though  I  am 
dying  without  a  hope  of  heaven,  I  have  no 
heart  to  pray  :  for  I  have  so  abused  the  Lord, 
that  I  have  no  expectation  of  his  hearing  me, 
if  I  should  attempt  to  pray.  It  is  now  too  late" 
Many  others,  like  this  woman,  find  themselves 
sadly  disappointed  in  expecting  a  more  con- 
venient season,  after  the  time  of  childhood  and 
youth  is  passed.  They  are  often  ashamed  to 


176  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

ask  God  to  remember  them  in  his  kingdom, 
when  they  reflect  how  they  have  treated  him 
during  their  whole  lives.  A  sense  of  their 
cold-hearted  indifference,  and  base  ingratitude, 
and  stubborn  resistance,  drives  them  to  despair. 
I  entreat  you,  therefore,  not  to  put  off  to  a 
dying  bed  the  great  business  of  life.  Ci  Acquaint 
now  thyself  with  God,  and  be  at  peace,"  and  thus 
secure  eternal  life.  Heaven  may  now  be  with- 
in your  reach,  but  to-morrow  the  door  of  mercy 
may  be  for  ever  shut  against  you.  You  will 
lose  nothing  valuable,  but  gain  much,  by  be- 
coming a  Christian  immediately.  "  If  thou 
shalt  be  wise,  thou  shait  be  wise  for  thyself  / 
but  if  thou  scornest,  thou  alone  must  bear  it.7' 

f 
fa;  SECTION  xxvii. 

If  I  am  to  be  saved,  I  shall  be  saved. 

WE  often  meet  with  an  individual  who  tells 
us,  "  If  I  am  to  be  saved,  I  shall  be  saved,  do 
what  I  will ;  and  if  not,  I  can't  help  it,  do  what 
I  can."  To  such  I  would  say,  it  is  very  true 
that  you  are  entirely  in  the  hands  of  God,  and 
at  his  sovereign  disposal.  All  that  you  ever 


IP  I  AM  TO  BE  SAVED,  SHALL  BE.   177 

have  done,  or  ever  can  do,  will  lay  him  under 
no  obligations,  on  the  score  of  law,  to  save  you. 
The  curse  of  the  law  is  out  against  you  as  a 
transgressor.  You  can  never  repair  the  breach 
which  your  sins  have  made.  And  while  it  is 
true  that  you  cannot  be  saved  by  the  law,  it  is 
also  true  that  you  witt  not  be  saved  by  the 
Gospel,  unless  the  Spirit  of  God  interpose  and 
make  you  willing  to  do  what  you  would  not 
otherwise  do.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  his 
sufferings  and  death,  has  provided  salvation  for 
the  whole  human  family — has  tasted  death  for 
every  man.  He  has  spread  a  royal  feast,  and 
i$  inviting  mankind  to  a  free  participation  of  its 
blessings.  His  servants  are  directed  to  say  to 
those  that  are  bidden,  "  Come,  for  all  things  are 
now  ready."  But  Christ's  servants  find  that 
"  they  all  with  one  consent  begin  to  make  ex- 
cuse," and  will  not  come  to  the  Great  Supper. 
This  agrees  with  what  our  Lord  told  the  un- 
believing Jews  :  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me  that 
ye  might  have  life."  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jeru- 
salem, how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together,  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  brood 
under  her  wings,  but  ye  would  not."  This  un- 
willingness to  come  to  Christ,  is  not  peculiar  to 
the  Jews,  but  is  universal  among  unconverted 


178  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

men  of  all  nations,  and  in  all  ages  of  the  world. 
And  so  strong  is  this  unwillingness,  that  all  the 
motives  of  love  and  terror,  of  mercy  and  wrath, 
which  the  Gospel  furnishes,  if  unaccompanied 
by  a  divine  influence,  will  produce  no  more 
effect  on  the  sinner,  and  come  no  nearer  lead- 
ing him  to  repentance,  than  the  gentle  breeze 
does  on  the  sturdy  oak,  in  uprooting  it  from  its 
strong  and  ancient  moorings.  The  sinner,  at 
every  period  of  his  life,  will  have  some  pretend- 
ed excuse  for  not  immediately  engaging  in  all 
Christian  duties.  This  has  always  been,  and 
will  continue  to  be,  the  case  with  you,  my  im- 
penitent reader,  even  till  your  very  dying  day, 
unless  the  Holy  Spirit  sweep  away  all  your 
refuges  of  lies,  and  pluck  you  as  a  brand  out  of 
the  fire.  Now,  whatever  ability  you  have  to 
<{  fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments,"  (and 
your  natural  ability  to  do  it  I  do  not  question,) 
or  whatever  ability  you  have  to  "  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  it  is  absolutely  certain  that, 
if  God  withhold  his  converting  grace,  you  will 
go  on  in  sin  to  the  end  of  life,  and  then  sink  to 
hell.  But  while  it  is  certain  that  you  will 
eternally  perish  if  God's  gracious  Spirit  do  not 
prevent,  it  is  equally  certain  that  you  will 
not  be  crippled  in  your  efforts  for  salvation,  or 


IP  I  AM  TO  BE  SAVED,  SHALL  BE.   179 

be  shut  out  of  heaven,  (if  you  are  disposed  to 
serve  the  Lord.)  by  any  purposes  of  the  Al- 
mighty. Where,  in  any  part  of  the  Bible,  does 
God  tell  sinners,  "  if  they  are  to  be  saved  they 
will  be  saved  ;  if  riot,  they  can't  help  it  ?  "  Do 
you  answer,  that  the  apostle  Paul  says,  God 
"  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy  ;  and 
whom  he  will  he  hardeneth?"  This  is  all 
true ;  but  is  this  inconsistent  with  his  having 
mercy  on  "all  them  that  obey  him?  "  (Heb.  v. 
9.)  To  be  sure,  "  he  hath  mercy  on  whom  he 
will  have  mercy  ;  "  but  on  whom  will  he  have 
mercy  ?  Will  it  be  on  "  the  willing  and  obe- 
dient," or  on  those  who  "  refuse  and  rebel  ? ?> 
After  the  Almighty  has  said  to  mankind, 
"  Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of 
the  earth,"  would  he  be  unwilling  to  save  any 
one,  or  every  one,  who  will  look  to  him  for  sal- 
vation '/  After  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  made 
the  general  proclamation,  u  Whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  can  he  ex- 
clude any  one  who  is  willing  to  come  to  him 
for  life  ?  No ;  God  will  have  mercy  on  all 
those  who  will  have  mercy  on  themselves. 
Christ  will  confer  salvation  on  "  all  them  that 
obey  him."  If  you,  my  unconverted  reader, 
desire  salvation,  do  your  duty — believe  in 


ISO  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

Christ,  and  obey  his  commands,  and  salvation 
will  be  yours. 

Perhaps  you  are  ready  to  ask  how  I  under- 
stand the  expressions,  "Whom  he  will,  he  hard- 
eneth."  Yes,  he  does  harden  whom  he  will. 
But  who  are  they  ?  Are  they  such  as  are  dis- 
posed to  do  right — to  love  and  obey  the  Lord  ? 
No ;  they  are  those  who,  like  Pharaoh,  resist- 
ed all  the  means,  and  motives,  and  influences, 
which  God  employs  to  soften  and  subdue  their 
hearts.  They  are  those  who  overlook  the  mer- 
cies, and  disregard  the  judgments,  of  our  kind 
Father  in  heaven.  They  are  those  who  ne- 
glect, or  despise  the  word  of  God,  the  holy  Sab- 
bath, the  Lord's  people,  and  the  institution  of 
religion.  They  are  those  who  profane  GodTs 
name,  indulge  their  sensual  appetites,  disregard 
the  admonitions  of  conscience,  and  resist  the 
strivings  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  how  does 
God  harden  those  whom  he  does  harden  ?  By 
using  means  to  soften  and  subdue  them,  and, 
when  these  means  are  misimproved  and  resist- 
ed, by  letting  sinners  have  their  own  way. 
Those  same  showers  and  dews  and  sunbeams, 
which  make  some  portions  of  the  earth  soft  and 
fruitful,  cause  other  portions  to  bring  forth  tares 
and  briers.  So  those  same  heavenly  influences, 


DON'T    BE    IN   A    HURRY.  181 

which  subdue  and  sanctify  and  save  "them 
that  obey  Christ,"  cause  those  who  "  do  not 
obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness,"  to 
become  harder  and  harder  in  sin. 

And  now,  my  dear  friend)  if  you  wish  God 
to  have  mercy  on  ytm,  give  up  your  wicked 
excuses,  your  vile  ingratitude,  and  all  your 
sins,  and  repent  and  call  upon  God  for  mercy. 
I  entreat  you,  "give  diligence  to  make  your  call- 
ing and  your  election  sure."  The  Bible  does 
not  tell  you  that  if  you  are  to  be  saved,  you 
will  be  saved,  and  if  not,  you  can't  help  it.  It 
declares  plainly,  "He  that  believeth  and  is  bap- 
tized, shall  be  saved  ;  and  he  that  believeth  not^ 
shall  be  damned"  It  says,  "  The  Lord  is  nigh 
unto  them  that  are  of  a  broken  heart ;  and 
saveth  such  as  be  of  a  contrite  spirit" 


SECTION  XXVIII. 
I  donlt  believe  in  hurrying* 

IP  there  is  a  religious  revival,  or  if  meetings 
are  more  numerous  than  common,  or  if  great 
anxiety  is  manifested  by  ministers  and  Chris- 
tians for  the  salvation  of  sinners,  one  man  is 
16 


182  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

ready  to  say,  "  I  don't  believe  in  hurrying  things 
too  fast."  I  would  ask  such  what  they  call 
"  too  fast  ?  "  Men  are  in  more  danger  of  being 
too  slow  than  too  fast  in  becoming  Christians. 
Two  men  started  together  from  the  hotel  the 
other  day,  to  take  the  steamboat,  which  was 
to  leave  at  five  o'clock.  One  of  them  looked 
at  his  watch  and  said,  "  We  have  no  time  to 
lose,"  and  quickened  his  pace.  "  Don't  be 
in  haste,"  said  the  other,  "  I  don't  believe  in 
hurrying  things  too  fast,"  and  kept  on  in  his 
usual  jog.  The  first  one  reached  the  boat  just 
in  time  to  get  aboard  before  she  left  the  wharf. 
The  other  arrived  two  minutes  too  late,  and 
was. left.  Now,  did  the  first  hurry  things  too 
fast?  When  that  man  was  drowning  the  other 
day,  and  his  associates  laid  out  all  their  strength 
to  reach  him  with  a  boat,  and  just  caught  him 
by  the  hair  as  he  was  sinking  the  last  time,  and 
thus  saved  his  life  ;  did  they  hurry  things  too 
fast?  When  that  house  was  burning  in  the 
night,  and  two  resolute  men  stove  in  a  window 
into  one  of  the  bed  rooms,  and  found  a  man  fast 
asleep  and  rescued  him  just  as  the  flames  burst 
into  the  apartment ;  did  they  hurry  things  too 
fast?  When  the  angels  took  hold  of  Lot's 
hand  to  hasten  his  escape  from  Sodom,  and  told 


183 

him,  "  Escape  for  thy  life,"  did  they  hurry 
things  too  fast  ?  When  Peter  preached  so  pow- 
erfully on  the  day  of  Pentecost  that  a  vast 
multitude  of  his  hearers  were  pricked  in  their 
heart,  and  cried  out,  "  Men  and  brethren,  what 
shall  we  do?'7  did  they  hurry  things  too  fast? 
When  Peter  urged  them  to  immediate  repent- 
ance and  baptism,  with  the  assurance  that  if 
they  obeyed  they  should  receive  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  did  he  hurry  things  too  fast  ? 
And  when  the  Apostles  baptized  three  thousand 
on  the  very  day  of  their  conversion,  did  they 
hurry  things  too  fast?  When  the  Philippian 
jailer  sprang  into  the  prison  where  Paul  and 
Silas  were,  at  midnight,  and  came  trembling, 
and  fell  down  before  them,  and  said,  "Sirs3 
what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? "  did  he  hurry 
things  too  fast?  And  when  the  Apostles  said, 
"Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved;"  did  they  hurry  things  too 
fast  ?  And  when  they  baptized  him  "  the  same 
hour  of  the  night ;"  did  they  hurry  things  too 
fast  ?  While  sinners,  in  these  latter  days,  ar6 
continually  exposed  to  "  the  damnation  of  hell/' 
is  it  hurrying  things  too  fast,  to  have  extra 
meetings,  protracted  meetings,  and  inquiry 
meetings,  and  so  forth,  and  to  declare  faithfully 


184  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

the  whole  counsel  of  God  ?  We  wish  to  do  all 
we  can  to  save  souls  from  eternal  death.  Some 
people  may  be  converted  under  the  ordinary 
means  of  grace,  and  others  may  require  extra 
efforts  to  lead  them  to  repentance.  The  Apos- 
tle intimates  that  the  same  means  will  not  an- 
swer for  all.  He  says,  "  Of  some  have  compas- 
sion, making  a  difference  ;  others  save  with 
fear,  pulling  them  out  of  the  fire."  Shall  men 
be  allowed  to  be  in  good  earnest  on  every  other 
subject  but  that  of  religion  ;  and  must  they  be 
restrained,  and  hampered,  and  kept  down,  and 
drawn  back,  when  their  zeal  for  God,  and  their 
desire  for  the  salvation  of  their  dying  fellow- 
znen,  prompt  them  to  holy  ardour  and  vigorous 
effort  to  save  souls  from  everlasting  burnings  ? 
God  says,  "  Blow  the  trumpet  in  Zion  ;  sound 
An  alarm  in  my  holy  mountain.  Let  the  priests, 
the  ministers  of  God,  weep  between  the  porch 
and  the  altar,  and  let  them  say,  "  Spare  thy 
people,  O  Lord,  and  give  not  thy  heritage  to  re- 
proach." Our  blessed  Patron  once  said  to  the 
Father,  "  The  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  eaten 
me  up."  Elijah  said,  "  I  have  been  very  zeal- 
ous for  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Zeal,  to  be  sure, 
should  be  according  to  knowledge.  But  there 
should  be  zeal.  Christ  gave  himself  for  us, 


OLD    AGE.  185 

"that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness, and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  peo- 
ple^ zealous  of  good  works."  Thousands  will 
doubtless  weep  and  wail  forever,  because  they 
were  not  in  sufficient  haste  to  become  Chris- 
tians. None  in  eternity  will  ever  lament  that 
they  "  made  haste  and  did  not  delay  to  keep 
God's  commandments."  Be  entreated  then,  my 
dear  reader,  to  be  in  earnest  to  secure  the  sal- 
vation of  your  soul. 

"  Seize  the  kind  promise  while  it  waits, 
And  march  to  Z ion's  heavenly  gates  ; 
Believe,  and  take  the  promised  rest ; 
Obey,  and  be  forever  blest." 


SECTION  XXIX. 
The  eleventh  hour. 

ANOTHER  harbours  this  excuse  in  his  heart : 
"  I  hope  to  live  some  time  yet,  and  to  enter  the 
vineyard  at  the  eleventh  hour."  To  such  I 
would  say,  as  to  your  living  long,  God  has  de- 
clared that  "  the  wicked  shall  not  live  out  half 
his  days."  He  says  also,  "  Boast  not  thyself  of 
to-morrow,  for  thou  knowest  not  what  a  day 
16* 


186  HAVE    ME   EXCUSED. 

may  bring  forth."  Your  hope  of  long  life,  and 
good  days  of  worldly  pleasure,  may  be  frustrat- 
ed, and  your  sun  may  go  down  at  noon.  Look 
out  for  that.  But  what  leads  you  to  hope  that, 
even  if  you  are  spared  to  old  age,  you  shall 
enter  the  vineyard  at  the  eleventh  hour  1  Do 
you  learn  of  many  doing  it  ?  How  seldom  is 
it  that  we  hear  of  people  becoming  Christians 
in  old  age !  It  is  true  that  in  times  of  very 
great  and  powerful  revivals,  there  are  now  and 
then  cases  of  conversion  among  the  aged.  But 
how  few  are  these  cases  compared  with  the 
multitudes  of  youth  who  are  brought  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven?  The  older  men  grow 
without  religion,  the  less  they  are  influenced 
by  the  motives  of  the  Gospel.  That  portion  of 
the  earth,  which  is  not  made  productive  by  the 
genial  rays  of  the  sun,  is  rendered  harder  and 
more  barren  by  every  day's  warmth.  So  that 
heart,  which  is  not  melted  into  penitence  and 
love  by  the  kindly  rays  of  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness, is  made  more  and  more  obdurate  by  its 
resistance  of  those  rays.  Old  people  find  that 
their  minds  are  less  affected  by  hearing  the 
Gospel  preached,  and  by  listening  to  the  prayers 
of  ministers  and  Christians,  than  they  were 
years  ago.  Motives  seem  to  have  less  power  to 


OLD   AGE.  187 

move  them  than  formerly.  They  have  become 
so  accustomed  to  their  own  habits  of  thinking 
and  reasoning,  and  acting  (or  rather,  not  act- 
ing} on  the  subject  of  religion,  that  it  is  like 
moving  mountains  to  get  them  to  attend  to  any 
new  thing,  especially  if  that  thing  is  not  agree- 
able to  their  inclinations.  And  as  religion  is 
never  agreeable  to  the  unregenerate  heart,  it  is 
next  to  impossible  to  induce  old  people  to  be- 
come religious. 

You  speak  of  entering  the  vineyard  at  the 
eleventh  hour :  how  do  you  know  that  the 
Lord  will  accept  of  your  services  at  that  late 
hour  of  the  day  ?  Do  you  say  that  our  blessed 
Saviour  speaks  of  the  master  of  the  vineyard 
hiring  some  at  that  hour  ?  Yery  well ;  but  who 
were  those  who  found  employment  at  that  late 
hour?  Were  they  persons  who  had  been  often 
invited  to  go  into  the  vineyard  during  trie  day  ? 
If  invited,  had  they  manifested  a  reluctance  to 
labour  in  the  master's  vineyard  ?  Did  they 
show  that  they  desired  to  share  the  wages,  ra- 
ther than  do  the  work  of  the  vineyard  ?  No, 
none  of  these  things.  When  they  were  asked, 
"  Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle  ?  "  they 
promptly  answered,  "Because  no  man  hath 
hired  us"  They  were  heathen,  who  had  ne- 


188  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

ver  heard  the  calls  and  invitations  of  the*  Gos- 
pel until  the  eleventh  hour  of  their  lives.  Just 
as  soon  as  they  were  told,  "  Go  ye  also  into  the 
vineyard,  and  whatsoever  is  right,  that  shall  ye 
receive  ;  "  they  joyfully  obeyed,  and  entered  the 
vineyard.  Now,  is  their  case  like  yours  ?  Can 
you  honestly  say  that  the  reason  why  you  have 
not  entered  the  Lord's  service,  ano^  become  a 
Christian  before,  is  "  because  you  hav£  not  been 
invited?"  Think  of  the  sermons  and  exhor- 
tations which  you  have  heard  from  childhood 
up  to  the  present  time.  Think  of  the  Sabbaths 
you  have  violated,  and  the  afflictions  you  have 
misimproved.  Think  of  the  many  Christian 
privileges  with  which  you  have  been  favoured. 
Think  of  those  kind  whisperings  of  the  Spirit 
with  which  you  have  so  often  been  visited. 
Now,  can  you  think,  in  view  of  these  things, 
that  you  will  stand  as  good  a  chance  to  be  re- 
ceived at  the  eleventh  hour,  as  those  poor,  igno- 
rant heathen,  who  entered  the  vineyard  as  soon 
as  invited  ?  Certainly  not.  Your  case  is  wide- 
ly different  from  theirs.  You  have  long  known 
your  duty,  but  a  love  of  sin,  and  a  dislike  of 
holiness,  have  prevented  your  doing  it.  Read 
the  tract  entitled  "Quench  not  the  Spirit,"  and 
you  will  find  the  account  of  a  man  standing 


OLD    AGE.  189 

by  the  gate  of  the  vineyard  at  the  eleventh 
hour.  His  expectation  of  entering  it  is  forever 
cut  off.  In  his  younger  days,  the  Holy  Spirit 
whispered  in  his  ear,  at  different  times,  "  Seek 
religion  now?  But  when  God  called,  he  refus- 
ed to  obey,  and  put  off  religion  till  a  more  con- 
venient season.  And  now,  on  his  death  bed, 
he  sees  and  acknowledges  his  error,  and  advises 
his  children  and  grandchildren,  not  to  do  as  he 
had  done  ;  and  gives  them  to  understand  that 
he  expects  to  spend  his  eternity  in  using  this 
affecting  language  of  despair :  "  The  harvest 
is  past ;  the  summer  is  ended  ;  and  I  am  not 
saved?  I  pray  you,  therefore,  my  dear  reader, 
talk  not  about  the  eleventh  hour.  Enter  the 
Lord's  vineyard  immediately,  whatever  hour  of 
your  day  it  is. 

"  Attend  the  offered  grace  to-day , 
Nor  lose  the  blessing  by  delay." 

"Procrastination  is  the  thief  of  time — the 
kidnapper  of  souls — the  recruiting  officer  of 
hell." 


190  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

SECTION   XXX. 

I  have  a  hope. 

WE  sometimes  meet  with  a  person,  whose 
mind  has  at  some  former  period  been  excited 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  but  who  has  never 
come  out  on  the  Lord's  side,  as  every  Christian 
ought  to  do.  When  wre  urge  upon  him  the 
necessity  of  .an  interest  in  Christ,  he  looks  us 
in  the  face,  and  says,  "  I  have  a  hope."  To 
such  I  would  reply,  so  has  every  hypocrite  this 
side  the  bottomless  pit.  Can  you  find  a  man 
of  your  acquaintance  who  has  not  a  hope  of 
salvation  ?  If  you  can  find  one  without  a  hope, 
you  find  a  miserable  being.  You  say  you  have 
a  hope.  Very  well.  The  apostle  says  we 
should  be  ready  to  give  a  reason  of  the  hope 
that  is  in  us.  Can  you  give  a  good  reason  for 
your  hope  ?  "  Every  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit." 
Does  your  hope  bring  forth  good  fruit  ?  Does 
it  lead  you  daily  to  pray  and  search  the  Scrip- 
tures ?  If  you  have  a  family,  does  your  hope 
lead  you  to  maintain  morning  and  evening 
worship  w'ith  your  household?  Does  it  lead 
you  to  be  regular  at  meetings,  not  only  on  the 
Sabbath  but  on  week-days  ?  Does  it  lead  you 


I    HAVE   A    HOPE.  191 

always  to  practise  unbending  integrity  arid 
strict  honesty  in  your  dealings  with  others  \ 
Does  it  lead  you  to  a  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  a  devout  reverence  of  the  name, 
and  ordinances,  and  house  of  God  1  Does  your 
hope  lead  you  to  seek  to  be  pure,  in  heart, 
speech,  and  behaviour,  even  as  God  is  pure  ? 
Does  it  lead  you  to  converse  and  pray  with  the 
unconverted  ?  Does  it  lead  you  to  hunger  and 
thirst  for  the  ordinances  of  the  visible  Church? 
If  you  have  a  hope,  why  not  profess  Christ  be- 
fore the  world,  and  seek  to  be  connected  with 
his  visible  body?  If  one  denomination  does 
not  suit  you,  why  not  seek  communion  with 
another?  Do  you  feel  satisfied  while  disregard- 
ing the  plain  and  positive  command  of  Christ, 
<fc  This  do,  in  remembrance  of  me  ?  "  Consider 
that  "  He  that  is  born  of  God  sinneth  not ;  " 
that  is,  he  will  not  allow  himself  to  live  in  any 
sin,  either  of  omission  or  of  commission.  If 
your  hope  allows  you  to  live  months  and  years 
out  of  the  visible  Church,  without  making  any 
effort  to  gain  admittance,  have  you  not  reason 
to  apprehend  that  it  is  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite, 
which  shall  perish  in  the  giving  up  of  the  ghost, 
or  in  death  ?  I  judge  you  not.  I  have  pro- 
posed these  questions  that  you  may  judge  cor 


192  HAVE   ME    EXCUSED. 

k'ectly  concerning  yourself.  "  Be  not  deceived ; 
God  is  not  mocked  :  he  that  soweth  to  the  flesh, 
shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption."  "  Let  him 
that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he 
fall."  If  you  have  not  hope  enough  to  bring 
you  out  on  the  Lord's  side,  may  you  not  fear 
that  you  have  not  hope  enough  to  carry  you  to 
heaven  ?  If  your  hope  does  not  lead  you  to  for- 
sake every  unholy  practice,  and  to  live  soberly, 
and  righteously,  and  godly  in  the  world,  have 
you  not  occasion  to  tremble  lest  it  is  built  upon 
the  sand  ?  Those  who  have  hope  enough  to 
keep  them  easy  and  careless,  but  not  enough 
to  bring  them  up  to  the  standard  of  Christian 
duty,  are  in  an  awfully  dangerous  state.  The 
faithful  and  pointed  preaching  of  the  word 
passes  by  them  on  either  side,  without  taking 
effect.  When  Christians  are  addressed,  they 
suppose  the  address  is  intended  for  professors 
of  religion,  and  not  for  them,  and  therefore 
they  do  not  appropriate  the  searching  appeals 
to  themselves.  Thus  the  truth,  which  if  ap- 
plied by  them  to  their  own  case,  would  show 
them  the  fallacy  of  their  hope,  passes  by  on 
the  right  side.  And  when  the  impenitent  are 
addressed  by  such  probing  truth,  as  is  calculat- 
ed to  convince  them  of  their  guilt  and  danger, 


t    HAVE    A   HOPE.  193 

and  to  induce  them  to  fly  to  Christ  for  salva- 
tion, they  apprehend  that  the  address  is  not 
meant  for  them,  (as  they  hope  that  they  are 
Christians,)  and  therefore  they  let  it  pass  them 
on  the  other  side.  Thus  these  persons  are  ap- 
parently in  more  danger  of  losing  their  souls, 
than  either  self-deceived  professors  in  the 
Church,  or  unconverted  sinners  out  of  the 
Church.  In  fact,  these  persons,  who  have  "  a 
hope  that  rnaketh  ashamed,  because  the  love 
of  God  is  not  shed  abroad  in  their  hearts,"  are 
almost  sure  of  destruction,  if  they  remain 
where  they  are.  They  have  just  hope  enough 
to  lead  them  to  cry  "  peace  and  safety  "  to  them- 
selves, till  sudden  destruction  cometh  upon 
them.  They  have  not  hope  enough  to  raise 
them  to  heaven,  but  just  enough  to  sink  them 
to  hell. 

If  you,  my  dear  reader,  are  resting  on  a  hope, 
which  does  not  lead  you  to  seek  a  standing 
among  Christ's  open  and  professed  friends,  and 
which  does  not  lead  you  to  live  as  the  Bible  re- 
quires Christians  to  live,  I  entreat  you  to  cease 
to  rest  upon  it,  but  cast  it  away  as  you  would 
a  broken  staff  where  you  may  procure  a  good 
one,  or  as  you  would  a  rotten  rope  where  you 
can  get  a  strong  one,  if  you  choose,  with  which 
17 


194  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

to  let  yourself  down  into  a  well.  Go  with  true 
penitence  and  lively  faith  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  he  may  be  "  formed  in  you  the  hope 
of  glory."  You  will  then  have  "  a  hope  which 
will  be  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and 
steadfast,  entering  into  that  within  the  vail, 
whither  Jesus  the  Forerunner  is  for  us  entered." 
(Heb.  vi.  18,  20.)  And  then  if  you  continue  to 
live  in  the  exercise  of  Christian  feelings,  and  in 
the  faithful  performance  of  all  Christian  duties, 
you  may  attain  "  the  full  assurance  of  hope," 
and  be  prepared  for  that  world, 

"  Where  faith  is  sweetly  lost  in  sight, 
And  hope,  in  full  supreme  delight, 
And  everlasting  love." 


SECTION  XXXI. 

I  mean  to  live  differently. 

WHEN  the  Holy  Spirit  is  operating  on  the 
minds  of  men,  either  in  a  time  of  revival,  or 
during  a  season  of  affliction,  or  at  any  other 
time,  they  see  their  past  course  has  been  sinful, 
and  some  of  their  sins  trouble  their  minds.  It 
is  common  for  a  man,  under  these  circumstan- 
ces, to  say,  "  I  mean  to  live  a  different  life  from 


MEAN   TO    LIVE    DIFFERENTLY.         195 

what  I  have  done."  To  such  I  would  say,  I 
am  very  glad  that  you  see  your  need  of  a  refor- 
mation. A  sense  of  our  past  deficiencies  is  the 
first  step  toward  religion.  If,  by  saying,  "  you 
mean  to  live  differently,"  you  mean  to  convey 
the  idea  that  you  are  determined  to  become  a 
Christian,  and  lead  a  Christian  life,  it  is  the 
best  thing  you  can  do.  I  should  rejoice  if  all 
the  world  would  do  differently  in  this  way. 
But  I  fear  you  do  not  mean  all  this.  I  fear 
that  you  mean  simply  to  forsake  some  of  your 
evil  ways,  and  to  attend  more  strictly  to  some 
external  duties ,  and  that  you  design  in  this 
way  to  appease  the  displeasure  of  God,  and  to 
quiet  your  own  conscience.  I  have  often  met 
with  persons,  who  expressed  themselves  in  the 
language  of  this  excuse,  who  were  not  at  all 
determined  to  make  religion  their  great  concern, 
but  simply  meant  to  pursue  a  course  which 
would  occasion  their  conscience  less  trouble. 
But  it  is  evident  that  almost  every  person  may 
reform  in  some  respects,  and  still  come  no  nearer 
religion  than  he  was  before.  Every  one  can 
see  that  the  thief,  the  drunkard,  the  swearer, 
the  adulterer,  the  gambler,  the  Sabbath-breaker, 
and  so  forth,  may  abandon  their  peculiar,  be- 
setting sin,  and  still  be  no  nearer  religion  than 


196  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

the  rest  of  mankind  who  were  never  guilty  of 
these  sins.  And  so  the  prayerless  person  may 
commence  something  in  the  form  of  prayer,  the 
indifferent  may  be  serious,  the  thoughtless  be- 
come thoughtful,  those  who  have  neglected  to 
read  the  Bible  may  begin  to  read  it,  and  those 
who  have  neglected  the  sanctuary,  may  be 
found  in  the  house  of  God,  and  after  all,  these 
different  persons  may  remain  in  love  with  sin, 
and  at  enmity  with  the  Gospel.  God  says  to 
those,  who  think  that  religion  consists  in  out- 
ward reformations  and  external  duties,  "Rend 
your  hearts,  and  not  your  garments  :  let  the 
wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous 
man  his  thoughts ;  and  let  him  return  unto 
the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him, 
and  to  our  God,  for  heVill  abundantly  pardon." 
When  God  requires  repentance  and  faith, 
(internal  and  holy  exercises,)  he  will  not  be  put 
off  with  external  reformations  and  outward 
duties.  When  he  commands  us  to  "  believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  in  order  to  salvation, 
he  will  not  accept  the  renunciation  of  Atheism, 
or  Deism,  or  Universalism,  or  Unitarian  ism,  in 
the  place  of  faith  in  Christ.  Men  may  renounce 
these  and  all  other  forms  of  doctrinal  error,  and 
still  be  as  destitute  of  saving  faith  as  the  great 


MEAN   TO   LIVE    DIFFERENTLY.         197 

adversary  himself.  True  faith,  when  exercised 
by  man,  exerts  a  purifying  influence  on  the 
heart  as  well  as  the  life.  Where  faith  is  in  the 
heart,  there  is  the  salt  which  is  to  cleanse  the 
fountain  of  moral  action.  Till  the  fountain  is 
cleansed  by  the  salt  of  divine  grace,  its  streams 
are  all,  like  itself,  filthy  and  hateful.  But 
when  the  fountain  is  thus  cleansed,  its  streams 
become  more  and  more  clear  and  healthful. 
Giving  up  evil  habits  and  erroneous  sentiments, 
while  repentance  and  faith  are  not  exercised,  is 
like  trying  to  cleanse  the  streams,  while  the 
fountain  remains  corrupt  and  poisonous.  Both 
the  fountain  and  its  streams  need  cleansing. 
But  the  way  to  accomplish  it,  is  to  clean  out  the 
fountain  first,  and  this  will  then  send  out  clear 
and  sweet  wTater  in  the  streams.  So  says  our 
blessed  Saviour,  "  Make  the  tree  good,  and  the 
fruit  will  be  good."  And  again  he  says, 
"  Cle&nse  first  that  which  is  within  the  cup  and 
platter,  that  the  outside  of  them  may  be  clean 
also." 

And  now,  my  unconverted  reader,  let  me  tell 
you  plainly  that  your  resolution  to  do  different- 
ly, (unless  it  goes  the  wisole  length  of  Joshua's, 
"  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the 
Lord,")  is  worse  than  nothing.  It  cries.  "  Peace, 
17* 


198  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

peace,"  to  you,  while  you  ought  to  realize  that 
you  have  no  ground  for  thinking  yourself  at 
peace  with  God.  It  quiets  your  conscience, 
when  it  would  be  far  better  for  you,  if  conscience 
were  much  more  troublesome  than  it  is.  If, 
instead  of  quieting  conscience,  by  a  resolution 
of  partial  obedience,  you  would  let  conscience 
drive  you  to  the  pure  fountain  of  Christ's  blood, 
conscience  would  thereby  be  cleansed  from  dead 
works,  and  you  would  thus  be  prepared  to  serve 
God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  If  you  are  not  a 
Christian,  you  ought  to  do  differently,  and  feel 
differently,  and  be  different  from  what  you  now 
are.  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  "Amend  your 
ways  and  your  doings  that  are  not  good,"  and 
present  yourself  "  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  accept- 
able unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  ser- 


SECTION  XXXII. 
I 


/  have  a  good  mind  to  undertake  it. 

SAYS  the  man,  whose  judgment  is  convinced 
that  religion  is  the  one  thing  needful,  but  whose 
heart  still  cleaves  to  this  world :  "  I  have  a 


ALMOST    PERSUADED.  199 

good  mind  to  undertake  it."  To  such  I  would 
say,  so  had  Agrippa  a  good  mind  to  undertake 
it,  when  he  said  to  Paul :  "  Almost  thou  per- 
suadest  me  to  be  a  Christian."  Multitudes  are, 
at  times,  almost  persuaded  to  attend  to  religion. 
Our  blessed  Saviour,  when  in  this  world,  met 
with  a  man  of  this  character,  and  said  to  him  : 
"Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven." But  it  will  be  well  for  you  to  remember, 
that  many  come  near  the  kingdom,  who  never 
enter.  When  they  feel  their  need  of  an  interest 
in  Christ,  they  allow  some  excuse  to  enter  their 
minds,  which  prevents  their  making  suitable 
efforts  to  become  Christians.  Their  seriousness 
is  thus  worn  off,  and  their  minds  become  less 
and  less  susceptible  of  religious  impressions. 
They  vainly  imagine,  that  another  time  will 
be  more  convenient  to  attend  to  religion  than 
the  present.  They  know,  and  sometimes  feel, 
that  religion  is  all-important,  and  the  thought 
that  they  are  liable  to  die  without  it,  often  fills 
their  minds  with  very  great  uneasiness.  But 
they  see  many  supposed  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  their  now  becoming  Christians,  and  are  dis- 
posed to  think  that  these  difficulties  will  be 
fewer,  and  easier  overcome,  at  a  future  period. 
They,  therefore,  say  to  their  convictions,  and  to 


200  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

the  Holy  Spirit,  which  occasions  their  convic- 
tions :  "  Go  thy  way  for  this  time;  when  I  have 
a  convenient  season,  I  will  call  for  thee."  But, 
alas  !  a  convenient  season  for  a  wicked  heart  to 
"cease  to  do  evil,  and  learn  to  do  well,'1  never 
comes ;  and  thus  "  Wisdom  is  pushed  out  of 
life."  How  many  of  this  description  will  mourn 
at  the  last,  when  they  are  consumed  in  the 
flames  of  perdition,  and  say  :  "  How  have  I 
hated  instruction,  and  my  heart  despised  re- 
proof!" If  you  find  yourself  at  all  disposed  to 
become  religious,  now  is  your  time.  It  is  God's 
good  spirit  working  in  you  "  to  will  and  to  do" 
— reproving  you  of  sin,  and  saying  to  you : 
"  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways,  for 
why  will  ye  die  ?  "  The  Holy  Spirit  never  vis- 
its men  but  to  do  them  good ;  and  as  he  is  now 
breathing  a  hallowed  influence  over  your  soul, 
and  trying  to  lead  you  to  repent,  and  secure 
the  salvation  of  your  never-dying  spirit,  be  cau- 
tious how  you  disregard  his  gentle  whispers. 
You  may  be  sure  that  true  religion  will  do  you 
no  harm ;  and  if  you  have  "  a  good  mind  to  un- 
dertake it,"  it  very  likely  is  NOW  6R  NEVER 
with  you.  You  may  not  feel  to-morrow  as  you 
do  now.  Yea,  you  may  never  have  a  return 
of  these  feelings,  if  you  grieve  them  away  now. 


DON'T  LIKE  TO  PROMISE.  201 

Remember,  it  is  God's  Spirit  that  makes  us  feel 
at  all  serious,  and  he  has  said  that  his  "  Spirit 
shall  not  always  strive  with  man."  If,  there- 
fore, you  have  any  serious  impressions  on  your 
mind  at  the  present  time,  do  not  get  rid  of  them, 
as  you  value  your  soul's  eternal  welfare.  In 
the  affecting  language  of  Paul  to  Agrippa  :  "  I 
would  to  God  that  you  were  not  only  almost, 
but  altogether  persuaded  to  be  a  Christian" 


SECTION  XXXIII. 
I  don't  like  to  pledge  myself. 

WHEN  we  converse  with  the  impenitent  on 
personal  religion,  and  urge  home  upon  their 
conscience  the  claims  of  God,  we  often  ask 
them,  Will  you  not  now  determine  to  give  your 
heart  to  God,  and  serve  him  ?  We  sometimes 
receive  this  answer:  "I  don't  like  to  pledge 
myself  to  do  it."  Why  not  pledge  yourself? 
If  your  mind  is  made  up,  why  not  say  so?  This 
unwillingness  to  bind  yourself  to  do  your  duty, 
indicates  that  your  mind  is  still  wavering,  that 
you  are  not  fully  decided  to  be  for  God,  and 
none  else.  As  long  as  you  are  undecided^ 


202  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

your  mind  in  a  state  of  suspense,  you  will  do 
nothing  to  any  purpose.  God  puts  to  you  this 
solemn  question  :  "  How  long  halt  ye  between 
two  opinions  ?  if  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  him  ; 
but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him."  Have  you  not 
lived  in  disobedience  to  God  long  enough  ?  Af- 
ter God  has  waited  so  long  a  time  for  you  to 
commence  serving  him,  can  you  have  the  bold- 
ness to  ask  him  to  wait  longer  ?  Does  not  even 
the  thought  make  you  blush  ?  When  will  you 
be  ready  to  give  your  heart  to  the  Lord,  and  to 
commence  serving  him?  In  ten  years?  In 
five  ?  In  one  ?  God  asks  you  to  decide  the 
matter  at  once — " this  day"  and  he  is  waiting 
for  your  decision.  I  pray  you,  decide  now,  and 
decide  right.  But  do  you  say  :  "  My  mind  is 
settled  on  the  subject;  I  do  mean  to  attend 
to  religion  ;  but  I  do  not  like  to  pledge  myself 
to  repent  this  moment"  How  long  a  time  do 
you  want  to  repent  in?  Did  not  the  three 
thousand,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  the  jailer 
of  Philippi,  take  time  enough  to  repent  in? 
They  did  it  at  once,  and  we  have  no  evidence 
but  that  it  was  as  well  done,  as  though  they 
had  taken  months  for  it.  Repentance  does  not 
so  much  require  time,  as  a  disposition.  When 
this  is  right,  the  work  of  repentance  is  de- 


DON'T  LIKE  TO  PROMISE.  203 

spatched  "  off  hand."  The  great  thing  neces- 
sary to  its  accomplishment,  is  determination. 
Men  never  accomplish  any  thing  important 
without  determination — a  determination,  which 
prompts  to  action.  When  a  man  has  an  im- 
portant business-matter  to  attend  to,  he  deter- 
mines promptly,  and  without  hesitation,  to  do 
it.  He  is  not  afraid  to  say,  I  will.  When  you 
give  your  note  for  any  amount,  or  when  you 
promise  to  pay  a  neighbour  what  you  owe  him, 
you  pledge  yourself  to  do  something  by  a  given 
time.  If  you  are  not  afraid  to  pledge  yourself 
to  do  your  duty,  in  temporal  things,  why  are 
you  in  spiritual  ?  If  you  ever  become  a  Chris- 
tian, you  will  have  first  to  pledge  yourself.  No 
man  can  become  religious,  without  engaging  to 
do  his  duty.  No  man  submits  to  God,  without 
a  determination  to  do  it.  No  man  ever  accept- 
ed of  Christ,  without  a  determination  to  do  it 
now.  Sinners  have  to  feel  themselves  shut  up 
to  duty,  before  they  can  be  induced  to  do  it.  A 
man  cannot  become  a  Christian,  as  long  as  his 
mind  is  undecided  whether  to  submit  to  God 
now,  or  at  a  future  time.  Whenever  a  sinner 
submits  himself  to  God's  disposal,  it  is  done  im- 
mediately following  a  determination  now  to 
submit.  If  you  have  any  notion  of  becoming  a 


HATE   MB   BXCfftSD. 

iftian,  you  can  aee,  therefore,  what  700 
A  come  la  You  mu*  be  willing  to  pl*dg* 
nelt  No  pemm,  who  ha*  not  nenre  enough 
ay,  I  will  NOW  *•*•»*  lo  CW,  HIM!  ompf 
C%ri*f  cur  my  St?MTfTtrrc  and  SiTtova, 
i  expect  lo  reach  bearen.  I  beseech  you 
i  lo  determine  now  lo  wire  God,  and  Mil 
MM.  Adopt  ihelaaguafe  of  ihe  Prodigal, 
•ay :  M I  will  ariw  and  go  lo  my  father, 
\%  ill  my  unto  him.  Cither,  I  hare  finned 
intt  boarety  and  before  thoe,  and  am  not 
thy  to  be  called  thy  Mm.*  Do  thi*  mneafw^ 
and  il  will  be  *aid  of  you,  at  it  wat  of  htm : 
nd  he  aroae  and  came  lo  lib  lather."  Hedge 
imlf  like  good  old  Jothua:  -  An  for  me  and 
hou*,««tMttMr9*  U»  L*rd*  It  if  not 
ugh  that  you  rr«o/i*  lo  repent,  you 
Mve  lo  ivpcnt  ftotr,  and  follow  your 
i  lo  repent^  by  rrpmtinff  tmm/>f/iVi/i*/y. 
jet  thw  be  the  aincera  language  of  yew 
tr/9  and  your 


-  ^  •• 

•  JWM 

•vvy  pom  aai  tfM^tit  bt  Uu  M  ; 


CAN'T  DO  ANY  THING. 

SECTION  XXXIV. 
I  cannot  do  any  thing. 

WE  often  meet  with  people,  who  have  h< 
the  sentiments  advanced,  that  sinners  cat 
do  any  thing  to  merit  forgiveness  and  sa 
tion  ;  and  they  inlVr  1  that  tmconve 

persons  have  nothing  to  do,  but  sit  still 
wait  patiently  for  God  to  come  along  and  in 
them  Christians.     Urge  them   to  repent 
believe  the  Gospel,  and  they  individually  i 
"  I  can't  do  any  thing.79    This  impression,  t 
they  can  do  nothing,  goes  with  them  wt 
they  go,  and  stays  with  them  whore  they  si 
It  presents  an  impervious  shield   .UMIN^ 
obligations  of  duty.     It  doubtless  proves 
ruin  of  thousands.    If  any  of  my  readers 
labouring  under  the  impression  that  they  c 
not  do  any  thing  towards  becoming  a  Ch 
tian,  and  preparing  for  heaven,  I  would  sa 
few  words  to  you  in  regard  to  that  impress! 
Where  did  you  get  that  impression  ?     Did  ; 
get  it  from  man,  or  from  God  /     Did  you 
it  from   ministers  or  Christians,  or  from 
word  of  God  ?    This  impression,  that  you  < 
do  nothing,  I  am  fully  convinced,  is  erronct 
18 


206  HAVE^ME    EXCUSED. 

and  awfully  dangerous.  The  reason  why  I 
believe  that  it  is  erroneous,  is  because  God  is  a 
God  of  sincerity  and  truth  ;  and  he  conveys  the 
idea  very  clearly  and  repeatedly,  in  the  Bible, 
that  it  is  the  sinner's  duty  to  do  something. 
This  idea  he  conveys  in  such  passages  as  the 
following.  Ezek.  xxxiii.  10,  11:  "Therefore, 
O  thou  son  of  man,  speak  unto  the  house  of 
Israel;  thus  ye  speak,  saying,  If  our  trans- 
gressions and  our  sins  be  upon  us,  and  we  pine 
away  in  them,  how  should  we  then  live  ?  Say 
unto  them,  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have 
no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked  ;  but  that 
the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live :  turn 
ye,  turn  ye,  from  your  evil  ways}  for  why 
will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ? "  Isaiah,  Iv.  6, 7  : 
"  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found,  call 
ye  upon  him  while  he  is  near  :  Let  the  wicked 
forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts ;  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord, 
and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him  ;  and  to  our 
God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon."  Mark,  i. 
15:  "Repent  ye,  and  believe  the  Gospel." 
Acts  ii.  37,  38  :  "  Now  when  they  heard  this, 
they  were  pricked  in  their  heart,  and  said  unto 
Peter,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do?  Then  Peter  said 


CANT    DO    ANY    THING.  207 

unto  them,  Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one 
of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Acts  xvi.  30,  31:  "Sirs, 
what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  And  they  said, 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shall  be  saved."  Ezek.  xviii.  30,  32 :  "  Repent 
and  turn  yourselves  from  all  your  transgres- 
sions ;  so  iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin.  Cast 
away  from  you  all  your  transgressions,  where- 
by ye  have  transgressed:  and  make  you  a 
new  heart  and  a  new  spirit :  for  why  will  ye 
die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  For  I  have  no  pleas- 
ure in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth,  saith  the 
Lord  God  :  wherefore  turn  yourselves  and  live 
ye."  In  these,  and  many  other  similar  por- 
tions of  Scripture,  God  conveys  the  idea,  that 
the  wicked  have  something,  yea,  much,  to  do* 
Look  again  at  the  jailer's  inquiry,  and  Paul's 
answer.  He  asks  a  plain  question,  "  Sirs,  what 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  He  had  got  the  im- 
pression that  there  was  something  for  him  to 
do,  and  he  asks  ivhat  it  was.  If  Paul  had 
embraced  the  notion,  that  the  sinner  "  can't  do 
any  thing,"  here  was  an  excellent  opportunity 
to  have  stated  it.  If  he  had  been  of  that 
opinion,  he  probably  would  have  answered  the 


20S  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

jailer's  inquiry  thus :  "  You  ask  what  you 
must  do  to  be  saved  1  Do  ?  You  cartt  do 
any  thing."  But  Paul  shows  that  he  did  not 
embrace  this  do-nothing-system.  He  honestly 
told  the  trembling  sinner  that  he  had  some- 
thing to  do.  That  he  must  do  something. 
He  said  to  him,  "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  And  when 
our  Saviour  says,  "He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized,  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he  that  believeth 
not,  shall  be  damned,"  he  conveys  the  idea, 
that  sinners  have  something  to  do,  in  order  to 
be  saved  ;  and  that  if  they  do  not  do  that  some- 
thing, they  will  be  damned  as  the  consequence 
of  not  doing  it.  And  when  he  says,  "  Except 
ye  repent,  ye  shall  perish"  he  clearly  conveys 
the  idea  that  sinners  must  do  something,  or 
perish,  as  the  consequence  of  not  doing  it. 

Now,  my  dear  reader,  whatever  has  been 
your  impression  about  your  having  nothing  to 
do,  you  see  that  God  requires  you  to  do  much. 
He  requires  you  to  repent,  and  believe  in  Christ, 
and  forsake  your  evil  ways,  and  evil  thoughts, 
and  seek  the  Lord,  and  return  unto  him,  and 
call  upon  him,  and  turn  yourself  from  all  your 
transgressions,  and  make  you  a  new  heart  and 
a  new  spirit.  You  must,  therefore,  settle  the 


209 

matter  with  God,  if  you  still  say,  "  I  can't  do 
any  thing."  You  are  hastening  to  his  awful 
bar,  and  "  what  wilt  thou  say  when  he  shall 
punish  thee  ?  "  Will  you  dare  say  that  you 
wanted  salvation,  but  could  do  nothing  to 
obtain  it  ?  "  Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not 
mocked ;  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall 
he  also  reap :  He  that  soweth  to  the  flesh,  shall 
of  the  flesh  reap  corruption  ;  but  he  that  soweth 
to  the  spirit,  shall  of  the  spirit  reap  life  ever- 
lasting." You  say  "  you  can't  do  any  thing  !  " 
Alas  !  you  have  done  something.  You  have 
done  too  much.  You  have  sinned  against  the 
Lord  times  and  ways  without  number.  Yes, 
you  have  done  too  much — done  enough  to  sink 
you  to  hell  for  ever.  Besides  sinning  against 
God's  law,  you  have  neglected  and  slighted  the 
Gospel  of  God  our  Saviour.  You  have  abused 
God's  mercies,  temporal  and  spiritual.  You 
have  misimproved  his  chastisements.  You 
have  disregarded  the  admonitions  of  your  own 
conscience.  You  have  resisted  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Yes,  you  have  done  much,  very  much,  which 
you  ought  not  to  have  done.  And  now,  when 
God  commands  you  to  do  something  which  you 
ought  to  do,  does  it  look  well  for  you  to  say, 
"  I  cartt  do  any  thing  ?  "  I  beseech  you  never 
18* 


210  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

to  say  it  again.  But  when  God  commands 
you  to  do  a  thing,  do  it.  Christ  has  become 
"the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  them 
that  obey  him"  Obey  him,  then,  and  you 
shall  be  saved. 


SECTION  XXXV. 
There  are  so  many  denominations. 

WE  sometimes  meet  with  persons  who  tell 
us,  "There  are  so  many  different  denomina- 
tions of  Christians,  who  knows  which  is  right  ?  " 
To  the  unconverted  person  who  makes  this  in- 
quiry, I  would  say,  you  have  the  Bible,  and  if 
you  study  that  with  a  sincere  desire  to  be 
guided  into  all  truth,  you  will  not  be  likely  to 
make  a  fatal  mistake  in  this  matter.  But  you 
misapprehend  Christians  and  ministers,  if  you 
suppose,  when  they  urge  you  to  come  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  that  they  are  asking  you 
to  join  their  church.  Joining  a  church  is  an 
after  consideration.  When  we  invite  you  to 
seek  the  Lord — to  give  him  your  heart — to  be- 
come a  Christian — we  say  nothing  to  you  about 
churches.  Your  first  business  is  "to  make 


SO    MANY    SECTS.  211 

your  own  calling  and  election  sure."  You 
should  not  suffer  your  mind  to  be  agitated  by 
the  differences  between  the  churches,  until  you 
gain  a  satisfactory  evidence  that  you  are  "a 
new  creature  j "  that  you  have  experienced 
"  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost ; "  that  "  old  things  are 
done  away  with  you,  and  all  things  have  be- 
come new."  When  you  experience  "  Love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good  faith, 
meekness,  and  temperance,"  then  you  may  feel 
warranted  in  searching  the  Scriptures,  to  see 
for  yourself,  which  denomination  comes  the 
nearest  to  the  pattern  there  given.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  various  denominations  of 
Evangelical  Christians  is  not  fundamental.  God 
owns  them  all,  and  sends  his  reviving  and 
sanctifying  Spirit  upon  them  all.  This  he 
would  not  do,  if  they  were  indulging  essential 
error.  If  you  are  truly  converted,  I  would 
advise  you  to  offer  yourself  to  that  church 
where  you  will  feel  most  at  home,  and  where 
you  think  you  will  be  the  most  happy  and  use- 
ful. "  Let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind." 


212  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

SECTION  XXXVI. 
I  cannot  get  religion. 

WE  have  occasionally  conversed  with  persons 
who  said,  "  I  would  be  glad  to  have  religion, 
but  I  can't  get  it."  I  would  say  to  such,  if  this 
were  really  the  case  with  you,  you  ought  to  be 
pitied,  rather  than  blamed,  for  not  being  a 
Christian.  But  is  it  truly  so?  Would  you 
really  be  glad  to  have  religion  ?  I  find  many 
who  would  be  glad  to  have  peace  and  happi- 
ness, who,  nevertheless,  are  as  far  from  desiring 
religion  as  can  be.  And  I  have  known  some, 
who  thought  that  they  really  desired  religion, 
when,  in  fact,  they  only  desired  its  benefits. 
This  may  be  the  case  with  my  impenitent 
reader.  You  can  ascertain  whether  you  really 
desire  religion,  or  not,  by  noticing  what  your 
desire  leads  you  to  do.  When  men  really  and 
truly  desire  a  thing,  they  use  all  proper  means 
to  obtain  it.  The  husbandman,  who  desires  a 
good  harvest,  breaks  up  his  fallow  ground — 
sows  his  seed — fences  his  field,  and  then  pa- 
tiently waits  for  the  early  and  latter  rain.  The 
youth,  who  desires  a  thorough  education, 
pursues  his  studies  with  diligence  and  perse- 


CAN'T  GET  RELIGION.  213 

verance.  The  traveller,  who  desires  to  be  at  a 
particular  place,  goes  in  that  direction.  Paul 
shows  that  he  really  desired  the  salvation  of 
Israel,  by  labouring  incessantly  to  bring  them  to 
Christ.  When  the  trembling  jailor  inquired 
what  he  must  do  to  be  saved,  and  was  told  lo 
believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  showed 
that  he  really  desired  salvation,  by  his  follow- 
ing Paul's  direction,  and  exercising  faith  in 
Christ.  Unless  your  desire  of  salvation,  leads 
you  to  repent,  and  believe  in  Christ,  and  live  a 
life  of  prayer,  and  attend  religious  meetings, 
and  read  the  Bible,  and  keep  the  Sabbath,  and 
reverence  God's  name,  and  endeavour  to  serve 
God  in  sincerity  arid  in  truth,  you  have  reason 
to  conclude  that  your  desire  is  for  the  "  loaves 
and  fishes" — the  benefits  of  religion  rather  than 
for  religion  itself.  If  you  truly  desire  religion, 
what  hinders  your  having  it?  Religion  is 
serving  GW,  with  a  right  state  of  feeling 
towards  Him  ;  or,  it  is  loving  God  with  all  your 
heart,  and  your  neighbour  as  yourself,  and 
acting  accordingly.  Now,  do  you  sincerely 
love  and  serve  the  Lord,  and  seek  the  happi- 
ness of  your  fellow  creatures?  If  you  do,  you 
have  religion  already.  But  if  not,  can  you 
honestly  say,  "  you  want  religion,  but  can't  get 


214  HAVE    ME    EXCUSED. 

it?"  What  does  God  require  of  you  that  you 
cannot  do?  Do  you  say,  UI  can't  repent?" 
Why  not  ?  Repentance  is  to  "  break  off  your 
sins  by  righteousness,  and  your  iniquities  by 
turning  unto  the  Lord."  What  hinders  you 
doing  this?  Can  you  not  cease  to  do  evil, 
and  Jearn  to  do  well  ?  Can  you  not  think  on 
your  ways,  be  sorry  for  your  sins,  and  turn 
your  feet  unto  God's  testimonies  ?  Well,  when 
you  have  done  these  things,  you  have  repented. 
When  God  commands  you  to  repent,  and  says, 
"  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  perish  : "  does  He 
require  impossibilities,  and  threaten  the  non- 
performance  with  perdition  ?  It  is  blasphemous 
to  suppose  it .  Does  our  blessed  Saviour  say, 
"Come'  unto  me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  and, 
"  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of  the  waters  of 
life  freely,"  when  men  cannot  accept  of  hia 
kind  invitation  ? — cannot  come  to  Him  ? — can- 
not take  the  water  of  life  ?  Has  he  provided 
this  great  Supper  for  our  world,  and  sent  out 
his  servants  to  say  to  mankind,  "  Come,  for  all 
things  are  now  ready  ;"  when  the  children  of 
men  might  all,  with  truth  and  propriety,  say, 
as  the  one  who  had  married  a  wife  did  say,  "  I 
CANNOT  COME  ?  It  is  absurd  and  wicked  to  in- 


215 

dulge  such  a  thought.  As  long  as  you  think 
that  God  requires  impossibilities,  you  will  think 
of  him  as  a  tyrant,  and,  of  course,  you  will  not, 
and  cannot  love  him.  And  as  long  as  you  feel 
that  you  cannot  repent,  (though  God  com- 
mands all  men  to  repent,)  you  are  not  in  a 
state  of  mind  to  become  a  Christian,  but  are 
in  an  attitude  of  rebellion  against  God.  You 
need  not  expect  God  to  have  mercy  on  you,  till 
you  acknowledge  that  HE  is  right,  and  yon 
are  wrong.  You  must  have  such  confidence 
in  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  God,  as  to 
feel  that  what  he  requires  is  reasonable.  You 
must  acknowledge  that  what  God  commands 
to  be  done,  ought  to  be  done  ;  and  what  ought 
to  be  done,  can  be  done.  And  as  God  now 
commands  all  men — you  among  the  rest — to 
repent,  they  and  you  ought  now  to  repent; 
and  as  you  ought  now  to  repent,  you  can  now 
repent.  And  as  you  can  now  repent,  DO  IT, 
and  heaven  shall  be  yours.  But  "  except  you 
repent,  you  shall  perish."  May  God  have 
mercy  on  you,  and  give  you  a  speedy  repent- 
ance, for  the  sake  of  Christ,  his  well  beloved 
Son.  Amen. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  SERVANT   MAKES  HIS  REPORT  TO  THE  MASTER. 

AFTER  the  great  Supper  was  made  ready, 
and  the  servant  sent  out  to  invite  the  guests  ; 
and  after  the  discouragements  with  which  he 
met,  in  their  unsatisfactory  excuses,  "  the  ser- 
vant came  and  showed  his  Lord  these  things.7' 
Said  the  prophet,  after  delivering  God's  mes- 
sage to  David,  "Now  therefore  advise  thyself 
what  word  I  shall  bring  again  to  him  that  sent 
me."  The  servants,  the  ministers  of  Christ, 
"  watch  for  souls  as  they  that  must  give  an 
account."  After  delivering  the  message  of  God 
on  the  Sabbath,  they  go  home  to  their  closets, 
and  report  to  their  master  the  visble  effects  pro- 
duced by  his  message.  Often  they  are  con- 
strained to  enter  complaints  to  the  Lord,  of 
their  ill  success.  Sometimes  they  ask,  "  Who 
hath  believed  our  report? — and  to  whom 
hath  the  arm  of  the  Lord  been  revealed  ? " 
They,  often  despondingly,  say,  "  We  have 
laboured  in  vain,  and  spent  our  strength  for 


. 

THE    SERVANT    REPORTS.  217 


nought."  None  but  ministers  know  a  minis- 
ter's feelings,  under  such  circumstances.  "  The 
heart  knoweth  his  own  bitterness."  *No  office 
or  station  in  this  world  is  attended  with  such 
crushing  responsibility.  Says  an  inspired  min- 
ister of  Jesus,  "  We  are  unto  God  a  sweet  savour 
of  Christ,  in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them 
that  perish  :  To  the  one  we  are  a  savour  of  life 
unto  life ;  and  to  the  other,  of  death  unto 
death :  and  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  " 
Often,  besides  being  unsuccessful  in  their  efforts 
to  induce  men  to  come  to  the  Gospel  feast,  they 
are  blamed,  and  vilified,  and  slandered,  and  per- 
secuted, by  the  very  persons  whose  welfare  they 
are  seeking.  Christ  told  his  ministers  that  they 
must  expect  this.  He  said,  "  If  they  have 
persecuted  me,  they  will  persecute  you  also." 
And  they  often  know  by  experience  that,  "  If 
any  man  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  he 
shall  suffer  persecution."  They  are  often 
called  fanatics,  and  fools,  and  madmen,  and  are 
accused  of  turning  "  the  world  upside  down." 
"  Marvel  not,"  said  the  Lord,  "if  the  world  hate 
you."  But  they  care  not  for  ill-treatment 
and  reproach,  if  they  can  but  induce  men  to 
come  to  the  Great  Supper.  Though  they  tell 
their  Master  how  sinners  treat  his  invitations 
19 


218  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

of  mercy,  yet  they  harbour  no  ill-will  towards 
sinners,  or  even  towards  their  enemies ;  nor 
would  they  "  command  fire  to  come  down  from 
heaven  to  consume  them ;  "  but  they  pray  for 
them,  and  persevere  in  their  efforts  to  do  them 
good. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  MASTER  IS  ANGRY  AT  THE  EVIL  REPORT. 

WHEN  the  servant  reported  how  those,  who 
were  bidden  to  the  Great  Supper,  all  made  ex- 
cuses, and  refused  to  come,  the  master  of  the 
house  was  angry.  Who  can  wonder  at  it? 
was  there  not  a  just  cause  for  anger  ?  He  had 
been  at  great  expense  and  trouble  to  do  them 
good,  and  they  treat  his  Supper  with  disrespect 
and  contempt.  No  wonder  he  feels  indignant. 
"  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day." 
And  the  blessed  Saviour,  who  has  done  so  much 
to  provide  salvation  for  the  lost,  is  angry  when 
men  make  excuses  for  not  loving  and  serving 
him — when  they  refuse  to  come  at  his  bidding, 
and  receive  the  Gospel  Supper — when  they 
neglect  this  great  salvation.  Yes,  when  to  save 
men  from  perishing  eternally ',  he  made  himself 
of  no  reputation,  took  upon  himself  human  na- 
ture, spent  a  life  of  toil  and  reproach  and  sor- 
row in  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
men,  and  finally  gave  himself  a  sacrifice  for 


220  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

our  sins,  by  enduring  the  shameful  death  of  the 
cross — all  this  for  the  benefit  of  our  race — 
when,  I  say,  after  all  these  provisions  are  made 
at  such  an  infinite  expense,  men  are  invited  to 
come  to  the  Gospel  feast,  and  eat  and  live  for- 
ever— to  come  and  love  and  obey  this  kind  Sa- 
viour— how  must  HE  feel  towards  those  who 
coldly  say,  "  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused." 
No  wonder  Jesus  looks  round  upon  such  with 
anger ^  being  grieved  at  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts."  -O,  remember  this,  ye  who  are  slight- 
ing the  Great  Supper.  Every  time  you  are  in- 
vited to  become  a  Christian,  whether  the  invi- 
tation be  given  publicly  or  privately ;  whether 
it  be  given  by  a  Gospel  minister,  or  private 
Christian;  whether  it  be  read  in  the  Bible, 
or  a  religious  book  or  tract;  whether  it  be 
given  by  mercies,  or  afflictions,  or  conscience, 
or  the  Holy  Spirit ;  if  you  disregard  that  invi- 
tation, the  blessed  Saviour  himself  is  angry 
with  you.  And  he  will  remain  angry  with  you 
forever,  unless  you  repent,  and  come  to  him  for 
life,  while  you  are  in  this  world.  "  Kiss  the 
Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the 
way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little." 
If  you  continue  to  neglect  and  slight  the  Gospel 
Supper,  you  will  find  yourself  among  that  de- 


THE   MASTER    IS    ANGRY.  221 

spairing  multitude,  who  will  hide  "  themselves 
in  the  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains ; 
and  will  say  to  the  mountains  and  rocks.  Fall 
on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him  that 
sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of 
the  Lamb  ;  for  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is 
come ,  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  ?  " 
19* 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   MASTER   DETERMINES   TO   SUPPLY   HTS   SUPPER 
WITH    GUESTS. 

WELL,  what  did  the  master  of  the  house  do, 
when  the  servant  informed  him  how  those,  who 
were  bidden,  had  treated  his  invitation  ?  Did 
he  give  up  having  his  feast  ?  "  No,"  he  said 
to  the  servant,  "go  out  quickly  into  the  streets 
and  lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in  hither  the 
poor,  and  the  maimed,  and  the  halt,  and  the 
blind."  If  the  wise  and  prudent,  the  mighty 
and  the  noble  of  this  world,  refuse  to  come  to 
the  Great  Supper,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  master 
can  get  along  without  them.  They  who  are 
bidden,  often  show  by  their  indifference  and 
contempt  that  they  are  not  worthy.  Let  land- 
buyers,  and  oxen-buyers,  and  newly  married 
people,  stay  away  from  the  Great  Supper,  if  they 
will ;  others  will  gladly  occupy  the  seats  which 
were  offered  to  them,  and  of  which  they  show 
themselves  so  unworthy  by  their  trifling  excuses. 
Those  whom  the  world  look  upon  as  foolish 


MASTER  MEANS  TO  HAVE  GUESTS.   223 

and  weak,  and  base,  and  despicable,  and  as 
things  that  are  not ;  yes,  "  the  poor,  the  maim- 
ed, the  halt,  and  the  blind,"  are  called  to  par- 
take of  those  rich  and  excellent  provisions  of 
mercy,  which  the  wealthy,  the  proud,  and  the 
honourable,  too  often  slight  and  disregard. 
"  That  which  is  highly  esteemed  among  men, 
is  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God  ; "  and  often 
that  which  is  highly  esteemed  in  the  sight  of 
God,  is  abomination  among  men.  "  God  seeth 
not  as  man  seeth."  O  ye  self-righteous  moral- 
ists, be  it  known  unto  you,  that  publicans  and 
harlots  shall  go  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
before  you.  The  ministers  of  Christ  are  com- 
monly more  successful  among  the  poor,  the 
despised,  and  the  immoral,  than  among  the  rich 
and  honourable  of  the  earth.  Comparatively 
few  among  the  rulers  of  the  Jews,  or  among 
the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  believe  in  Jesus. 
It  is  not  so  great  a  stoop  for  a  poor  man  4o  be- 
come humble  and  childlike,  as  it  is  for  the  rich 
and  honourable. 

But  let  it  be  remembered,  that  if  those  who 
attend  meetings  and  hear  the  invitations  of  the 
Gospel  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  will  not  ac- 
cept offered  mercy,  the  servants  of  Christ  must 
go  from  house  to  house,  through  the  streets  and 


224  THE    GREAT    SUPPER. 

lanes  of  the  cities  and  villages,  and  through 
the  distant  and  neglected  neighbourhoods  of 
every  town,  and  bring  into  the  sanctuary  of 
God,  into  the  Sabbath-school,  into  the  arms  of 
Jesus,  and  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  the 
poor,  the  ignorant,  the  careless,  the  neglectful, 
and  the  depraved.  Every  servant  of  HIM 
who  "  went  about  doing  good," — every  Chris- 
tian— is  commissioned  to  do  this  all-important, 
but  greatly  neglected  work.  Followers  of 
Emanuel,  servants  of  the  great  Master,  here  is 
work  for  you  all.  "  PrcacJi  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature."  Fill  your  hands  with  Bibles  and 
tracts  and  good  books,  and  your  mouths  with 
arguments,  and  go  out  quickly  and  bring  in  to 
the  Gospel  Supper,  "  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the 
halt,  and  blind."  The  Master  is  determined 
that  the  Supper  shall  be  furnished  with  guests. 
Let  every  one  do  his  part  to  furnish  it,  and, 
with  the  help  of  the  Master,  it  will  soon  be 
done. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  SERVANT  DOES  AS  COMMANDED. 

WHO  of  Christ's  servants — ministers,  or  pri- 
vate Christians — can  honestly  say,  (in  reference 
to  bringing  neglecters  into  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven,) as  the  servant  in  this  parable  did.  "  Lord, 
it  is  done  as  thou  hast  commanded  ?  "  Christian 
reader,  have  you  faithfully  and  affectionately 
invited  every  sinner  in  your  neighbourhood,  to 
come  to  the  Gospel  Supper  ?  Have  you  "  warn- 
ed every  man  night  and  day,  with  tears  ? " 
Have  you  gone  forth  "  weeping,  bearing  pre- 
cious seed  ?  "  Have  you  "  sown  your  seed  in 
the  morning,  and  in  the  evening  ?  "  Have  you 
borne  in  mind  the  encouragement  held  out  by 
the  apostle,  that  "  he  that  converteth  a  sinner* 
from  the  error  of  his  ways,  shall  save  a  soul 
from  death,  and  hide  a  multitude  of  sins?" 
Are  there  not  some  individuals,  within  a  little 
distance  of  your  dwelling,  who  might  justly 
say,  (if  others  have  done  no  more  than  you 
have,)  "  No  man  cared  for  my  soul  ?  "  Or,  can 
you  honestly  say,  "  I  am  free  from  the  blood  of 
all  men  ?  "  u  Lord,  I  have  done  as  thou  hast 
commanded." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Y  ET    THE  RE    IS    ROOM. 

AFTER  the  servant  had  faithfully  performed 
his  duty,  and  brought  in  as  many  as  he  could 
from  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  there  were 
still  seats  unoccupied  at  the  table.  The  ser- 
vant, therefore,  said  to  his  master,  "  Lord,  it  is 
done  as  thou  hast  commanded,  and  yet  there  is 
room"  My  unconverted  reader,  is  this  not  an 
announcement  which  fills  you  with  joy  ?  There 
is  room  enough,  even  for  you^  at  this  late  hour. 
Room,  in  the  pardoning  mercy  of  God — room, 
in  the  compassion  and  blood  of  Christ — room, 
in  the  loving-kindness  of  the  Holy  Spirit — 
room,  in  the  rejoicing  of  angels — room,  in  the 
communion  of  saints — room,  in  the  visible 
Church — and  room,  in  the  mansions  of  glory. 
Yet  there  is  room  !  Room  sufficient,  so  that 
sinners  of  every  nation,  of  all  shades  of  com- 
plexion, of  every  grade,  of  every  variety  of 
character,  and  of  every  different  age  in  life, 
may  find  a  seat  at  this  Great  Supper.  Though 


YET    THERE    IS    ROOM.  227 

thousands  and  millions  have  already  come,  and 
are  sharing  the  privileges  of  this  feast,  yet  there 
is  room  for  thousands  and  millions  of  others. 
Abraham  and  all  the  pious  patriarchs,  Isaiah 
and  all  the  holy  prophets,  David  and  all  the 
devout  kings,  Paul  and  all  the  inspired 
apostles,  and  all  true  believers,  in  ages  past  and 
present,  have  taken  their  seats  at  this  royal 
banquet.  But  .though  so  many  have  come  in, 
"yet  there  is  room."  None  will  stay  away 
and  starve,  for  want  of  room  at  the  Gospel 
table.  Christ  gave  his  flesh  for  the  life  of  the 
world — to  furnish  a  supper,  sufficient  for  every 
son  and  daughter  of  Adam — "  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  him  might  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

•  . 

THE     BLESSING       OF    THE    FEAST   TO    BE    UBGED 
UPON  ALL. 

AFTER  the  servant  in  the  parable  had  collected 
as  many  of  the  poor,  distressed  objects  of  charity 
out  of  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city  as  he 
could,  and  informed  his  master  that  there  was 
yet  room)  his  lord  said  unto  him,  "  Go  out  into 
the  highways  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to 
come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled :  For  I 
say  unto  you,  that  none  of  those  men  which 
were  bidden,  shall  taste  of  my  Supper."  By 
this  we  learn  that  Christ's  servants  must  not 
confine  their  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  men,  to 
their  own  city,  or  town,  or  village,  or  neighbour- 
hood, but  should  feel  an  interest  in  the  whole  hu- 
man family,  and  should  exert  themselves,  ac- 
cording to  their  ability,  to  bring  all  men  to 
Christ  and  to  heaven.  They  are  sometimes 
under  the  painful  necessity  of  saying  to  Gospel 
hardened  sinners,  "  Seeing  ye  judge  yourselvei 
unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  lo,  we  turn  to  the 


MEN   TO   BE    URGED   TO   COME.          229 

Gentiles."  If  sinners  in  one  place  will  not 
come  to  the  Gospel  Supper,  those  in  another 
may.  And  if  sinners  in  highly  privileged  places 
will  not  listen  to  the  voice  of  mercy,  those  in 
destitute  places  may.  And  if  sinners  in  a 
Christian  land  turn  their  backs  upon  the  means 
of  grace,  Christ's  servants  are  authorized  to 
shake  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against  them, 
and  direct  their  efforts  to  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen.  Yes,  says  their  Master,  "Begin  at 
Jerusalem,"  and  "  go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 
20 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  SEATS  MUST  ALL  BE  OCCUPIED. 

THOSE  who,  by  birth  and  education,  seemed 
to  be  the  children  of  the  kingdom,  will,  in  many 
instances,  be  cast  out;  while  others  will  be 
brought  in  from  the  highways  and  hedges,  from 
the  east  and  the  west,  from  the  north  and  the 
south,  to  fill  the  places  of  those  who  "  prove 
themselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life."  The 
Master  is  determined  that  his  house  shall  be 
filled.  £nd  if  some  who  are  invited  to  the  Sup- 
per will  not  come,  others  will.  The  Master 
has  influence  enough  to  fill  his  house  with  wor- 
thy guests.  Every  seat  will  be  occupied.  God 
says  to  his  Son,  the  good  Master,  "  Thy  people 
shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy  power." 
Christ  will  not  be  disappointed  in  his  plans  to 
promote  his  own  glory,  and  the  good  of  his  peo- 
ple. If,  my  dear  reader,  you  will  come  to  his 
feast  of  love,  well :  but  if  not.  Christ  will  be 
glorified  by  you  in  some  other  way. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

COMPEL   THEM   TO   COME   IN. 

THE  Master  said  to  the  servant,  "  Compel 
them  to  come  in."  How  could  one  compel 
many  ?  Could  he  lay  hold  of  them  and  force 
them  in,  contrary  to  their  own  wills  ?  No ;  the 
force  which  he  could  use  in  bringing  them  in, 
was  not  physical,  but  moral.  It  was  the  force 
of  truth,  of  argument,  of  persuasion,  and  of  en- 
treaty. This  is  the  kind  of  compulsion  which 
Christ's  servants  are  authorized  to  use,  in  bring- 
ing sinners  to  the  Great  Supper.  This  is  the 
only  force  which  can  make  men  willing  to 
come  to  Christ  for  eternal  life.  This  is  the 
kind  of  force  which  Paul  used  in  converting 
men.  He  says,  "Knowing  the  terror  of  the 
Lord,  we  persuade  men."  Though  he  "  rea- 
soned of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judg- 
ment to  come  " — though  he  often  drew  his  ar- 
guments from  "  the  terror  of  the  Lord  " — yet 
he  does  not,  even  with  such  mighty  weapons, 
expect  to  drive,  or  force  men  to  become  Chris- 


232  COMPEL    THEM    TO  COME    IN. 

tians.  He  only  persuades  them.  Under  his 
reasonings  and  persuasions,  "  Felix  trembled," 
and  Agrippa  said,  "Almost  thou  persuadest 
me  to  be  a  Christian."  If  sinners  will  not  come 
to  the  Gospel  Supper  under  the  compulsion  of 
truth,  reason,  persuasion,  argument,  and  en- 
treaty, accompanied  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  they 
will  never  come  at  all.  This  is  the  only  kind 
of  compulsion  which  God  ever  employs,  or 
which  he  authorizes  his  servants  ever  to  em- 
ploy, to  bring  men  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
But  this  kind  of  force  all  of  Christ's  servants 
should  use  continually  with  their  fellow  men, 
to  induce  them  to  accept  of  salvation.  They 
should  "  preach  the  word  ;  be  instant  in  season 
and  out  of  season ;  warn,  reprove,  and  rebuke 
with  all  long-suffering."  They  should  preach 
the  word  publicly,  and  from  house  to  house, 
and  compel  men  to  come  to  the  Great  Supper. 
They  should  compel  them  by  their  good  exam- 
ple, by  entreaties,  by  warnings,  by  exhortations, 
by  tears,  and  by  prayers.  They  should  follow 
them  to  their  various  avocations — to  their  farms, 
their  shops,  their  stores,  their  houses,  their  offi- 
ces, their  mills — yea,  "  into  the  highways  and 
hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in." 


CHAPTER  XVIH. 

THE  MASTER  CAN  DO  WITHOUT  THOSE  WHO  WILL 
NOT  COME. 

BUT  if  any  are  still  begging  to  be  excused, 
and  will  not  be  thus  compelled  to  come  in,  let 
them  know  that  they  are  injuring  themselves 
more  than  they  are  any  one  else.  Let  those,  who 
are  despising  or  neglecting  religion,  or  begging  to 
be  excused  from  attendance  on  the  Lord's  ban- 
quet, remember  that  the  Master  can  get  along 
very  well  without  them — much  better  than 
they  can  get  along  without  HIM — and  much 
better  than  they  can  get  along  without  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Gospel  Supper.  The  Master  is  per- 
fectly independent  of  them,  but  they  are  not  in- 
dependent of  him.  Let  those  who  are  staying 
away,  remember,  that  every  day  and  every  hour 
that  they  delay  coming  to  this  Great  Supper, 
and  by  every  excuse  which  they  make  for  not 
coming,  they  are  provoking  Christ  to  swear  in 
his  wrath  that  they  shall  not  taste  of  his  Supper. 
Hereafter,  many  of  those,  who  are  now  so  back- 
ward about  coming  to  this  feast,  may  feel  their 
need  of  its  provisions,  and  may  come  to  the  Mas- 
20* 


234    °OD  CAN  DO  WITHOUT  THE  DISOBEDIENT. 

ter's  door,  and  knock  and  beg  for  admittance, 
when  it  is  forever  too  late.  "  When  once  the  Mas- 
ter of  the  house  is  risen  up,  and  hath  shut  to  the 
door,  and  ye  begin  to  stand  without  and  knock 
at  the  door,  saying,  Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us ; 
and  he  shall  answer  and  say  unto  you,  I  know 
you  not  whence  ye  are  ;  depart  from  me,  all  ye 
workers  of  iniquity:  there  shall  be  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth,  when  ye  shall  see  Abra- 
ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  all  the  prophets 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  you  yourselves 
thrust  out."  (Luke  xiii.  25 — 28).  "  Because  I 
have  called  and  ye  refused ;  I  have  stretched 
out  my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded  ;  but  ye 
have  set  at  nought  all  my  counsel,  and  would 
none  of  my  reproof:  I  also  will  laugh  at  your 
calamity  ;  I  will  mock  when  your  fear  cometh. 
Then  shall  they  call  upon  me,  but  I  will  not 
answer;  they  shall  seek  me  early,  but  they 
shall  not  find  me ;  for  that  they  hated  know- 
ledge, and  did  not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord  : 
therefore  shall  they  eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  own 
way,  and  be  filled  with  their  own  devices." 
(Prov.  i.  24—31).  Yes,  if  men  will  not  come 
to  Christ  for  his  blessings,  they  will  find,  to 
their  cost,  that  he  can  do  without  them,  and  do 
just  as  well  without  them  as  with  them. 


CONCLUSION. 

1.  THE  subject  presented  in  this  parable,  ex- 
hibits the  great  kindness  and  benevolence  of 
God  in  making  this  Great  Supper.  Here  we 
see  a  world  of  sinners,  justly  condemned  to 
everlasting  punishment,  pitied,  and  loved,  and 
redeemed,  by  that  very  Being  whose  laws  they 
had  violated,  and  whose  authority  they  had  set 
at  nought.  Yes,  while  men  were  in  high- 
handed rebellion  against  their  Maker,  and 
while  he  might,  with  infinite  justice,  have 
crushed  them  all  to  hell,  unpitied  and  unre- 
deemed, instead  of  dealing  with  them  "after 
their  sins,  and  rewarding  them  according  to 
their  iniquities,"  he  "  so  loved  the  world,  that 
he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  him,  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  Was  there  ever  such  an 
exhibition  of  pity  and  benevolence  as  this? 
Surely, 

«'  This  was  compassion  like  a  God, 

That  when  the  Saviour  knew 
The  price  of  pardon  was  his  blood, 

His  pity  ne'er  withdrew." 


236  CONCLUSION. 

Well  may  redeemed  sinners  exclaim : 

"  0,  for  such  love,  let  rocks  and  hills 

Their  lasting  silence  break  ; 
And  all  harmonious  human  tongues 

The  Saviour's  praises  speak." 

The  Apostle  Paul  gives  expression  to  God's 
love  in  this  language :  "  Scarcely  for  a  righteous 
man  will  one  die  ;  yet,  peradventure,  for  a  good 
man,  some  would  even  dare  to  die  :  But  God 
commandeth  his  love  toward  us,  in  that  while 
we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." 

2.  Our  remarks  on  this  parable,  show  us  the 
folly  of  mankind,  in  being  reluctant  to  come 
and  partake  of  this  Supper.  Though  provi- 
sions are  now  made,  by  which  men  may  be  de- 
livered from  condemnation  and  eternal  death ; 
and  though  all  things  are  now  ready  for  man's 
comfort  and  happiness  in  this  world,  and  the 
world  to  come  ;  and  though  men  are  invited  to 
partake  freely  of  all  the  blessings  of  salvation ; 
yet  so  foolish  is  man,  that  he  shakes  his  head, 
and  turns  his  back  upon  all  the  provisions  of 
mercy  which  are  offered  for  his  acceptance,  and 
perishes  for  ever  in-  consequence.  God  is  ready 
to  ask  :  "  What  more  could  have  been  done  to 
save  men,  that  I  have  not  done  for  them  ? " 
But,  after  all  that  has  been  done,  in  providing 


THE    INGRATITUDE    OF   MEN.  237 

the  Gospel  Supper,  and  inviting  men  freely  to 
partake,  they  all,  with  one  consent,  begin  to 
make  excuse.  No  wonder  God  exclaims : 
"  O,  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood 
this,  that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end." 
Surely  the  conduct  of  those,  who  neglect  to  be- 
come Christians,  evinces  any  thing  rather  than 
wisdom,  or  understanding,  or  consideration. 
Look  at  it  again,  infinite  riches  freely  offered  to 
the  poor,  but  rejected  by  them  !  Eternal  hap- 
piness offered  to  the  miserable,  but  rejected  by 
them  !  The  friendship  of  Almighty  God  of- 
fered to  the  friendless,  but  rejected  by  them  ! 
Eternal  misery  threatened  to  the  hell-deserving, 
but  disregarded  by  them  !  O,  what  infatuated 
creatures,  those  who  neglect  the  Gospel,  are ! 

3.  This  parable  brings  before  our  minds  the 
awful  ingratitude  of  men.  "Hear,  O  hea- 
vens !  and  give  ear,  O  earth  !  the  Lord  hath 
spoken :  I  have  nourished  and  brought  up  chil- 
dren, and  they  have  rebelled  against  me.  The 
ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's 
crib  ;  but  Israel  doth  not  know  ;  my  people 
doth  not  consider."  When  God  has  made  ar- 
rangements, by  which  he  can  "  be  just,  and  the 
justifier  of  him  who  believeth  in  Jesus,"  men 
would,  if  left  to  themselves,  frustrate  his  whole 


238  CONCLUSION. 

scheme  of  benevolence,  and  thus  rob  God  of 
the  glory  of  redemption,  and  plunge  their  own 
souls  into  endless  ruin.  If  men  were  only  left 
to  their  natural  choice,  in  regard  to  God's  plan 
of  mercy,  not  one  of  the  whole  race  of  Adam 
would  accept  of  salvation  through  Christ,  or 
honour  the  Father  and  the  Son  by  obeying  the 
divine  commands.  They  are  all  naturally  dis- 
posed to  treat  God's  efforts  to  do  them  good, 
with  cold  indifference,  or  infidel  contempt.  They 
even  take  occasion  from  God's  forbearance  and 
kindness,  to  grow  more  and  more  perverse  and 
wicked.  li  Because  sentence  against  an  evil 
work  is  not  executed  speedily,  therefore  the 
heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in  them  to 
do  evil."  Here  we  have  a  Great  Supper,  made 
for  the  twofold  purpose  of  honouring  Christ, 
and  benefiting  mankind.  But,  men  are  so  un- 
grateful, that,  if  left  to  their  own  natural 
choice,  they  will  neither  honour  Christ,  nor  ben- 
efit themselves,  by  coming  to  this  Supper. 

4.  This  subject  brings  to  our  view  the  dis- 
tinguishing grace  of  God.  When  the  invita- 
tion to  this  Supper  was  given  out,  all  who  were 
invited  refused  to  come.  All  are  naturally 
alike ;  all  are  unwilling  to  come  to  Christ  for 
salvation,  and  to  partake  of  the  Supper  which 


DISTINGUISHING  GRACE  OF  GOD.          239 

he  has  provided.  If  all  men  are  reluctant  to 
come — if  all  beg  to  be  excused — how  happens 
it  that  some  do  afterwards  come  to  the  Supper? 
Does  their  waiting  make  their  dispositions 
better?  The  natural  effect  of  waiting  is  to 
harden  the  heart,  and  to  render  it  less  probable 
that  one  will  come  at  all.  Well,  are  those  who 
come,  naturally  better  disposed  than  those  who 
never  come  ?  Does  the  Bible  teach,  or  do 
Christians  feel,  that  those  who  accept  offered 
mercy,  are  naturally  holy,  or  more  seriously 
inclined  than  those  who  perish  in  their  sins  ? 
Are  not  all  Christians  ready  to  acknowledge 
that  they  "were  dead  in  trespasses  and  in 
sins" — that  they  "  were  by  nature,  children  of 
wrath,  even  as  others,?"  Who  then  makes 
them  to  differ  from  others?  Who  leads  them 
to  repent  and  believe  in  Jesus,  while  others 
remain  in  impenitence  ?  Who  induces  them  to 
come  to  the  Gospel  Supper,  while  others  stay 
away?  Is  the  difference  to  be  attributed  to 
themselves,  or  to  the  grace  of  God  ?  Does  not 
every  true  Christian  adopt  the  language  of 
Paul,  and  say,  "By  the  grace  of  God  I  am 
what  I  am?"  Does  not  God  take  one,  and 
leave  another?  He  does  this  by  death,  by 
sickness,  by  prosperity,  by  adversity,  and  by 


240  CONCLUSION. 

his  converting  grace.  God  has  a  perfect  righi 
to  do  what  he  will  with  his  own  creatures.  He 
is  under  no  obligations  to  convert  any.  No  one 
deserves  any  favour  from  God.  He  has  a  right, 
therefore,  to  leave  all  in  their  sins,  or  to  convert 
some  and  leave  others.  Paul  says,  "  So  then 
hath  he  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy, 
and  whom  he  will,  he  hardeneth."  If  God  did 
injustice  to  any,  there  would  be  occasion  for 
finding  fault :  But  there  is  no  unrighteousness 
or  injustice  with  God.  When  he  shows  mercy 
to  any  of  mankind,  and  disposes  them  to  como 
to  the  Gospel  Supper,  he  does  altogether  better 
by  them  than  they  deserve ;  and  when  he 
declares  that  none  of  those  who  were  bidden, 
but  excused  themselves,  shall  taste  of  his  Sup- 
per, he  does  them  no  injustice.  He  barely  deals 
with  them  as  they  deserve.  His  Spirit  and 
grace  are  his«own,  and  he  has  a  right  to  dis- 
pense them  as  he  pleases,  and  no  one  has  any 
business  to  say  unto  him,  "  What  doest  thou  ?  " 
While  Christians  are  enjoying  the  consolations 
of  divine  grace,  they  may  adore  the  distin- 
guishing mercy  of  God,  which  has  made  them 
to  differ  from  the  impenitent  world.  They 
may  be  disposed  to  ask, 


GOD'S  JUSTICE  IN  THE  SINNER,' S  DOOM.     241 

"  Why  was  /  made  to  hear  thy  voice. 

And  enter  while  there's  room, 
When  thousands  make  a  wretched  choice, 

And  rather  starve  than  come  ?" 

And  while  they  ask  this  question  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Dr.  Watts,  they  may  be  satisfied  with 
Watts'  answer : 

"  'Twas  the  same  love  that  spread  the  feast, 

That  gently  forced  us  in ;, 
Else  we  had  still  refused  to  taste, 

And  perished  in  our  sin." 

While  this  will  be  the  language  of  those  who 
come  to  the  Gospel  Supper,  those  who  make 
excuses  and  stay  away,  will  jfeeZ,  and  will  have 
occasion  to  feel,  that  it  is  their  own  fault  that 
they  are  not  Christians — that  they  are  not  pre* 
pared  to  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  and  all  the  people  of  God,  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

5.  In  view  of  the  truth  contained  in  this 
parable,  we  see  that  God  will  be  just  in  casting 
off  those,  who  would  not  honour  him  by  coming 
to  this  Great  Supper.  They  do  not  deserve  the 
Supper  at  any  rate.  And  after  it  is  offered  to 
them  as  a  gratuity,  and  they  make  such  foolish 
and  trifling  excuses  for  staying  away,  it  is 

doubly  just  that  God  let  them  perish  without 
21- 


242  CONCLUSION. 

it.  No  wonder  there  will  be  weeping,  and 
wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth,  when  lost 
sinners  see  all  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  in 
heaven,  filled  with  joy  unspeakable  and  eternal, 
ascribing  "glory,  and  honour,  and  thanksgiv- 
ing, and  power,  to  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever." 
No  wonder  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  cry, 
"AMEN,  ALLELUIA,  while  the  smoke  of  the  tor- 
ment of  the  wicked  ascendeth  up  for  ever  and 
ever."  All  the  intelligent  universe  will  see  and 
know,  that  the  lost  spirits  in  hell  are  receiving 
but  the  due  reward  of  their  deeds. — They  will 
know  that  their  "  damnation  is  just,-"  and  will 
approve  of  that  sentence  which  doomed  them 
to  everlasting  burnings. 

6.  Finally,  it  is  evident  from  this  subject, 
that  those  who  have  been  invited  to  this  Great 
Supper,  but  have  not  accepted  the  invitation, 
and  have  perished  in  consequence,  will  be  filled 
with  most  bitter  reflections.  They  will  reflect 
that  they  had  voluntarily  sinned  against  God, 
and  consequently  deserved  "  the  damnation  of 
hell."  They  will  reflect  that  "  God  so  loved 
the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believed  in  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  They  will 


SAD    THOUGHTS    IN    HELL.  243 

reflect  that,  when  they  might  have  been  saved, 
by  simply  believing  in  Jesus,  they  did  not,  and 
would  not,  believe  in  him,  and  receive  him  as 
their  Saviour.  They  will  reflect  that,  when 
God  told  them  plainly  that  he  who  believed  not 
in  Christ,  should  be  damned,  they  would  not 
believe.  They  will  reflect  that,  when  salvation 
was  offered  them  without  money  and  without 
price,  they  would  not  accept  the  offer.  They 
will  reflect  that,  when  Christ  made  this  Great 
Supper,  and  used  all  consistent  means  to  in- 
duce them  to  come  and  share  its  blessings, 
"  they  all  with  one  consent  began  to  make  ex- 
cuse." They  will  reflect  that  it  is  their  own 
fault  that  they  are  lost.  In  every  groan  of 
despair,  each  one  will  seem  to  say  to  his  own 
soul,  "  Thou  hast  destroyed  thyself" 

And  now,  my  dear  reader,  have  you  carefully 
read  my  remarks  on  this  parable  of  the  Gospel 
Supper  ?  Have  you  gone  through  this  little 
book  without  becoming  a  Christian?  When 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  made  such  a  precious 
feast  on  purpose  for  you,  will  you  stay  away 
from  it  and  starve  ?  Will  you  perish  for  ever, 
when  you  can  have  salvation  by  simply  re- 
ceiving it  ?  Will  you  make  your  bed  in  hell, 
when  it  is  just  as  cheap  having  a  mansion  in 


244  CONCLUSION. 

heaven  ?  Will  you  spend  your  eternity  with 
all  the  wicked  beings  in  the  universe,  when 
you  may  just  as  well  spend  it  with  all  the  good  ? 
Will  you  curse  God  for  ever,  when  you  may 
just  as  well  bless  him  for  ever  ?  Will  you  be- 
come a  fiend  of  darkness,  when  you  may  just 
as  well  be  an  angel  of  light?  You  and  I  are 
hastening  to  the  bar  of  God.  I  must  there 
render  an  account  for  what  I  have  written,  and 
you  must  render  an  account  for  what  you  have 
read. — I  pray  God  to  bless  and  save  you. 

"  Sinners,  awake  betimes  ;  ye  fools,  be  wise ; 
Awake  before  the  dreadful  morning  rise  ; 
Change  your  vain  thoughts,  your  crooked  works  amend ; 
Fly  to  the  Saviour — make  the  Judge  your  friend  ; 
Lest  like  a  lion,  his  last  vengeance  tear 
Your  trembling  souls,  and  no  deliverer  near." 


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which  in  prose  and  poetry,  make  their  first  appearance  in 
our  country  in  this  edition.  All  her  volumes,  excepting 
a  few  juveniles  unsuited  to  a  Standard  Edition,  are  includ- 
ed in  this,  making,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  complete 
Edition  of  the  Works  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth. 

To  the  attractions  of  our  former  Editions  we  have  added 
several  engravings  from  steel,  got  up  expressly  for  the 
work,  as  Illustrations  and  Embellishments. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Tonna  has  awakened  a 
new  interest  in  her  writings.  Among  her  last  labors  as  an 
authoress,  was  the  preparation  for  the  press  of  Judaea 
Capta.  This  we  received  from  Charlotte  Elizabeth  in 
manuscript,  in  advance  of  its  publication  in  England,  for 
this  Edition  of  her  works,  which  has  her  express  endorse- 
ment, and  is  the  only  one  in  this  country  from  which  she 
has  derived  any  pecuniary  benefit. 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  ly  M.  W.  Dodd. 

CHARLOTTE  ELIZABETH'S  WORKS, 

IN  18mo.  VOLUMES. 

JUDAH'S    LION. 

"  In  a  sprightly,  well-written  narrative,  containing  scenes  of  high  dra- 
matic interest;  it  portrays  the  character  and  hopes  of  the  Jews  in  their 
dispersion,  and  points  to  the  means  which  may  be  blessed  in  restoring 
them  t»  the  faith  of  Abraham,  in  the  true  Messiah."— Phila.  Observer. 

"  Individuality  of  character  is  faithfully  preserved,  and  every  one  is 
necessary  to  the  plot.  The  reader  will  find  in  thig  book  much  informa- 
tion that  he  can  only  find  elsewhere  by  very  laborious  research.  Char- 
lotte Elizabeth  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  national  restoration  of  the  Jews 
to  the  possession  of  Palestine,  but  believes  they  will  previously  be  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  We  advise  our  friends  not  to  take  up  this  book 
nntil  they  can  spare  time  for  the  perusal;  because,  if  they  commence,  it 
will  require  much  self-denial  to  lay  it  down  until  it  is  fairly  read 
through." — Christian  Adv.  and  Jour. 

THE    FLOWER    GARDEN. 

A  collection  of  deeply  interesting  Memoirs,  beautifully 
illustrated  under  the  similitude  of  flowers. 

SECOND  CAUSES; 

OR,  .UP  AND  BE   DOING. 

"  We  consider  this  little  volume  before  us  one  of  the  best  practical 
works  from  the  pen  of  this  popular  writer.  It  presents  a  series  of  inter- 
esting illustrations  of  the  efficacy  of  that  faith  which  looks  above  and 
beyond  second  causes,  and  relies  for  support  on  the  word  and  promises 
of  God."—  Christian  Observer. 

FALSEHOOD    AND    TRUTH. 

"A  beautiful  and  instructive  volume,  worthy  to  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  all  children  and  youth,  as  a  choice  token  of  parental  solicitude  for 
their  preservation  from  insidious  errors,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Few  there  are  indeed  of  any  age  who  can  read  it 
without  equal  profit  and  pleasure." — Boston  Recorder. 

CONFORMITY. 

"  We  read  this  little  volume  with  great  and  unqualified  satisfaction. 
We  wish  we  could  induce  every  professor  of  religion  in  our  large  cities, 
and  indeed  all  who  are  in  any  way  exposed  to  contact  with  the  fashiona- 
ble world,  to  read  it.  The  author,  in  this  little  work,  fully  sustains  her 
high  reputation  as  a  very  accomplished  and  superior  writer,  and  the 
Btaunch  advocate  of  Evangelical  principles,  carried  out  and  made  influ- 
ential upon  the  whole  life  and  conduct."— -Epis.  Recorder. 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.Dodd. 


CHARLOTTE    ELIZABETH  S    WORKS CONTINUED. 

WRONGS    OF    WOMEN. 

Part  I.  .  *  MILLINERS  AND  DRESSMAKERS  ;'  II.  *  THE 
FORSAKEN  HOME  ;*  III.  *  THE  LITTLE  PIN-HEADERS  f 
IV.  '  THE  LACE  RUNNERS.' 

"  Is  now  published  in  handsomely  bound  volumes  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 
These  are  the  most  popular  and  intensely  interesting  stories  from  the 
ever-moving  pen  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  and  we  are  desirous  to  see  them 
widely  read.  They  are  eminently  calculated  to  awaken  sympathy  for 
the  oppressed  and  the  poor,  and  we  therefore  take  pleasure  in  calling  to 
them  the  attention  of  our  kind-hearted  readers." — Jn,  Y.  Observer. 

"  This  volume  contains  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  most  graphic,  truthful, 
and  pathetic  expressions  of  the  '  Wrongs  of  Women.'  She  has  come  out 
as  the  champion  of  her  sex,  and  if  they  have  no  such  wrongs  to  be  re- 
dressed in  this  country,  they  have  thousands  who  sympathize  with  their 
enslaved  sisters  in  Great  Britain." — Ib. 

"  The  authoress  of  the  '  Wrongs  of  Women/  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  has 
portrayed  them  in  terms  of  exquisite  pathos  and  heart-moving  tender- 
ness. Eloquently  and  forcibly  has  she  denounced  the  inhuman  policy 
out  of  which  they  have  grown ;  and  with  all  the  susceptibilities  and 
overwhelming  influences  of  woman's  affections,  she  approaches  the  sub- 
ject in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  bring  some  alleviation,  some  mitigation 
of  the  mental  and  physical  degradation  of  her  sex." — American  (Boston) 
Traveller. 

DANGERS    AND    DUTIES. 

"  This  volume  is  full  of  thrilling  interest  and  instruction.  Those  who 
commence,  will  not  be  content  till  they  have  finished  it,  and  they  will 
find  instruction  presented  in  a  form  so  irresistibly  attractive  and  en- 
chanting, that  they  will  read  it  through,  and  wish  it  longer  still."— 
Christian  Advocate. 

PASSING    THOUGHTS. 

"  Few  volumes  of  156  18mo  pages,  contain  a  greater  amount  of  valuable 
thought  happily  arranged  to  secure  attention  and  promote  reflection. 
The  anecdote  of  George  III.,  p.  53,  is  new  to  us,  as  are  indeed  several 
other  illustrations,  but  they  are  striking  and  beautiful.  Books  like  this 
cannot  be  too  widely  circulated  nor  too  frequently  read.  They  supply 
heavenly  aliment  to  the  weak,  useful  medicine  to  the  sick,  and  safe  sti 
mulus  to  the  healthy  and  the  strong." — Boston  Recorder. 


We  also  publish  in  elegant  library  style,  illustrated  with 
Steel  Engravings,  what  to  all  intents  and  purposes  may  be 
considered  a  complete  edition  of  the  Works  of  this  popu- 
lar Authoress.  The  edition  is  comprised  in  upwards  of 
1500  large  octavo  pages. 

3 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 

THE  DESERTER. 

"  We  have  never  (we  speak  advisedly)  read  a  story  that  more  entirely 
enchained  us  than  this.  We  are  not  quite  sure  how  much  of  it  is 
fancy,  and  how  much  fact ;  but  we  rather  suppose  that  the  outline  is 
veritable  history,  while  the  filling  up  may  have  been  drawn  partly  from 
the  author's  imagination.  The  principal  hero  of  the  story  Is  a  young 
Irishman,  who  was  lead  through  the  influence  of  one  of  his  comrades, 
to  enlist  in  the  British  Army,  contrary  to  the  earnest  entreaties  of  his 
mother,  and  who  went  on  from  one  step  to  another  in  the  career  of  crime 
till  he  was  finally  shot  as  a  deserter  ;  though  not  till  after  he  had  practi- 
cally embraced  the  Gospel.  The  account  of  the  closing  scene  is  one  of 
the  finest  examples  of  pathetic  description  that  we  remember  to  have  met 
with.  The  whole  work  illustrates  with  great  beauty  and  power  the 
Downward  tendencies  of  profligacy,  the  power  of  divine  grace  to  subdue 
the  hardest  heart,  and  the  encouragement  that  Christians  have  never 
to  despair  of  the  salvation,  even  of  those  who  seem  to  have  thrown 
themselves  at  the  greatest  distance  from  divine  mercy." — Albany  Daily 
Citizen. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  happiest  efforts  of  this  exceedingly  popular  writer. 
Its  great  aim  appears  to  be  to  exhibit  the  truly  benevolent  influence  of 
real  piety  upon  the  heart  of  man,  as  well  as  the  degrading  nature  of  sin. 
The  narrative  is  admirably  sustained — the  waywardness  of  the  unre- 
generate  exhibited  in  living  colors,  and  so  interspersed  with  sketches  of 
the  '  soldier's  life,'  as  to  add  a  thrilling  interest  to  the  whole.  It  forms 
a  neat  library  volume  of  near  $550  pages,  and  is  handsomely  printed  and 
bound  In  cloth." — Auburn  Journal. 

"  One  of  the  happiest  productions  of  the  author.  The  narrative  is 
well  sustained,  and  the  personages  and  character  are  true  to  nature  " 
— Commercial  Advertiser. 

COMBINATION. 

"  This  is  a  tale,  founded  on  facts,  from  the  gifted  pen  of  Charlotte  Eliz- 
abeth. It  is  well  written,  and  contains--the  very  best  of  advice.  It  lays 
down  with  great  force  the  mighty  truth,  that  without  Religion  there 
can  be  no  virtue  ;  and  that  without  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  man  will 
inevitably  be  dashed  on  the  rocks  of  irredeemable  ruin.  Religion  is  the 
Sheet  Anchor,  the  only  protection  to  hold  by  in  the  hour  of  violent 
temptation  ;  but  if  that  be  lost,  all  is  over.  Such  little  works  as  these 
are  eminently  calculated  to  produce  a  vast  amount  of  good  ;  and  there- 
fore let  the  heads  of  families  place  them  upon  their  table  for  the  benefit 
of  their  children. 

"  In  no  better  way  could  an  evening  be  spent  than  by  having  it  read 
aloud,  that  a  warning  may  be  taken  from  the  folly  of  others,  and  that 
the  course  which  has  led  them  to  ignominy  and  disgrace  may  be  most 
carefully  avoided."— Boston  American  Traveller 

THE  DAISY— THE  YEW  TREE, 

Chapters  on  Flowers. 

Three  most  delightful  little  volumes,  made  up  in  part  from 
her  very  popular  Flower  Garden  Tales  for  those  who  prefer 
them  in  smaller  volumes. 

CO 


Booiks  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  IV.  Dodd. 

JUD/EA  CAPTA. 

'  Judsea  Capta,'  the  last  offering  from  the  pen  of  this  gifted  and  pop- 
ular writer,  will  be  esteemed  as  one  of  her  best  works.  It  is  a  graphic 
narrative  of  the  invasion  of  Judea  by  the  Roman  legions  under  Vespa- 
sian and  Titus,  presenting  affecting  views  of  the  desolation  of  her  towns 
and  cities,  by  the  ravages  of  iron-hearted,  bloodthirsty-  soldiers,  and  of 
the  terrible  catastrophe  witnessed  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
The  narrative  is  interspersed  with  the  writer's  views  of  the  literal  ful 
filment  of  prophecy  concerning  the  Jews,  as  illustrated  in  their  extra- 
ordinary history,  and  with  remarks  contemplating  their  returning  pros- 
perity. Her  occasional  strictures  on  the  history  of  the  apostate  Josephus, 
who  evidently  wrote  to  please  his  imperial  masters,  appear  to  have 
been  well  merited.  The  work  is  issued  in  an  attractive  and  handsome 
volume." — Christian  Observer. 

"  If  the  present  should  prove  to  be  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  last  work, 
she  could  not  desire  to  take  her  departure  from  the  field  of  literature 
with  a  better  grace  ;  and  we  doubt  not  that  it  will  be  considered,  if  not 
the  best,  yet  among  the  best  of  her  productions.  It  is  full  of  scripture 
truth,  illustrated  by  the  charm  of  a  most  powerful  eloquence ;  and  no 
one,  we  should  suppose,  could  read  it  without  feeling  a  fresh  interest 
in  behalf  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  a  deeper  impression  of  the  truth 
and  greatness,  and  ultimate  triumph  of  Christianity."— Albany  Daily 
Advertiser. 

"This  volume  contains  a  description  of  some  of  the  most  terrific 
scenes  of  which  this  earth  has  been  the  theatre.  But  instead  of  con 
templating  them  merely  as  a  part  of  the  world's  history,  it  takes  into 
view  their  connection  with  the  great  scheme  of  Providence,  and  shows 
how  the  faithful  and  retributive  hand  of  God  is  at  work  amidst  the 
fiercest  tempest  of  human  passion.  The  work  contains  no  small  por- 
tion of  history,  a  very  considerable  degree  of  theology,  and  as  much 
beautiful  imagery  and  stirring  eloquence  as  we  often  find  within  the 
same  limits.  Those  who  have  the  other  works  from  the  same  pen, 
will  purchase  this  almost  of  course  ;  and  they  need  have  no  fear  that 
ft  will  disappoint  any  expectation  which  its  predecessors  may  have 
awakened."— Albany  Religious  Spectator. 

Also  just  published — 

*THE  CHURCH  VISIBLE  IN  ALL  AGES." 

A  work,  making  attraction  to  the  youthful  as  well  as  the 
more  mature  mind,  a  deeply  interesting  and  important  subject. 


All  the  foregoing  are  printed  on  clear,  white  paper,  and 
bound  to  match,  making  an  attractive  and  beautiful  set  of 
books.  They  are  sold  in  sets  or  separately,  varying  from 
25  to  50  cents  per  volume.  When  purchased  for  Sabbath 
Schools,  a  liberal  deduction  is  made  from  the  above  prices. 
(8) 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  THE  CROSS. 

The  Attraction  of  the  Cross,  designed  to  illustrate  the 
leading  Truths,  Obligations  and  Hopes  of  Christianity. 
By  Gardiner  Spring,  D.D.  12mo.  Fourth  edition. 

"  We  are  not  surprised  to  hear  that  Mr.  Dodd.  the  publisher,  has  al- 
ready issued  the  third  edition  of  the  Attraction  of  the  Cross,  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Spring.  It  is  the  ablest  and  most  finished  production  of  its  author, 
and  will  undoubtedly  take  its  place  in  that  most  enviable  position  in  the 
family,  as  a  volume  of  standard  reading,  to  be  the  comfort  of  the  aged 
and  the  guide  of  the  young.  We  commend  it  as  one  of  the  most  valua- 
ble issues  of  the  press."— JV.  Y.  Observer. 

"  This  is  no  ordinary,  every-day  volume  of  sermons,  but  the  rich, 
ripe  harvest  of  a  cultivated  mind — the  result  of  long  and  systematic 
devotion  to  the  proper  work  of  the  Christian  ministry.  We  regard  Dr. 
Spring  as  one  of  the  most  accomplished  preachers  of  the  country.  We 
never  heard  him  preach  a  weak  discourse ;  and  whenever  he  appears 
from  the  press,  it  is  with  words  of  wisdom  and  power.  A  careful  perusal 
of  this  admirable  book  has  afforded  us  great  pleasure.  We  do  not  won- 
der to  find  it  so  soon  in  a  third  edition.  It  will  have  a  lasting  reputa- 
tion."— Baptist  Memorial 

"  This  volume,  which  we  announced  two  weeks  ago,  and  which  we  then 
predicted  would  prove  to  be  the  most  excellent  and  valuable  work  yet 

written  by  Dr.  Spring,  has  more  than  equalled  our  expectations 

We  trust  that  every  family  in  our  land  will  read  this  precious  work, 
which  illustrates  so  beautifully  and  attractively  the  leading  truths,  ob- 
ligations and  hopes  of  Christianity,  as  reflected  from  the  Cross  of 
Christ."— Albany  Spectator. 

"  We  mistake  if  this  neatly-printed  volume  does  not  prove  one  of  the 
most  attractive  religious  works  of  the  day.  It  presents  the  practical 
truths  of  religion,  which  all  ought  to  know,  free  from  the  spirit  of  sect- 
arianism or  controversy.  The  book  is  prepared  for  permanent  use,  and 
bids  as  fair,  perhaps,  as  any  book  of  the  kind  in  our  times,  to  live  and 
speak  long  after  the  author  shall  have  gone  to  test  the  realities  he  has 
so  eloquently  described." — Journal  of  Commerce. 

"  Dr.  Spring's  new  work,  which  we  had  occasion  recently  to  announce, 
is  very  highly  commended  elsewhere.  A  New- York  letter  in  the  Boston 
Traveller  thus  introduces  it  to  notice : — '  A  new  work  of  Dr.  Spring. 
K  The  Attraction  of  the  Cross,"  has  been  published  by  M.  W.  Dodd,  of 
this  city.  ..."  The  Attraction  of  the  Cross  "  is  destined  to  live  among 
the  very  best  productions  of  the  church  with  which  its  respected  author 
is  connected.  The  style  is  remarkably  pure,  the  arrangements  of  the 
topics  lucid  and  methodical,  and  the  arguments  addressed  with  great 
force  to  the  reason  and  conscience.  It  will  stand  by  the  side  of  {;  Dod- 
dridge's  Rise  and  Progress,"  "  Wilberforce's  View,"  or  the  "  Way  of 
Life,"  in  the  libraries  of  future  generations.'  " — Newark  Daily  Adv. 

"  None  will  wonder  at  the  rare  success  which  this  volume  has  won, 
who  have  read  it.  Fur  comprehensiveness  of  views,  beauty  of  style  and 
excellence  and  fervor  of  devotional  feeling,  few  works  have  lately  ap- 
peared that  surpass  it."— New-  York  Evangelist. 

11  The  grand  relations  of  the  Cross,  its  holy  influences,  its  comforts  and 
its  triumphs,  are  here  exhibited  in  a  manner  cheering  to  the  heart  of 
the  Christian.  And  the  perusal  of  this  book  will,  we  venture  to  say3 
greatly  assist  and  comfort  the  children  of  God. . .  ."—Presbyterian. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


